Memoirs of a Prodigy
by KarasuKimi
Summary: Just another introverted and emotionally unstable genius with a mysterious past, who seems to attract much more then just trouble. Too bad for her a mysterious past always has its demons... -Non-Massacre- /AU Narutoverse/ Itachi/Kagome/Naruto/Sasuke!
1. Empty Swings and Sharp Whispers

Ahem..

I couldn't resist, this has been plaguing me for a really long time and it is one of the most horrid plot bunnies I have ever encountered. I kinda wrote this awhile back but then it kinda of ...vanished? Oh well I hope this isn't a complete and utter disaster because I had to rewrite it.

**Pairing:** Unknown as of yet.

Surprisingly this is a fic mainly about Naruto and Kagome, then throw in a prodigy Kagome, Kyuubi & a non-masscred Uchiha clan and this is what I came up with...sounds cool, ne? We'll just have to see then.

_

* * *

_

_Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies_

-Aristotle

* * *

_Pathetic._

They all were.

_How can they all be so happy?_

Iridescent orbs of blue narrowed at the scene before them.

The Genin of Konoha had just graduated, the next generation of shinobi were all in front of the academy with beaming smiles and shining hitai-ate. The sun was shining its brilliant rays only making the scene even more sickeningly cheerful.

She sighed.

She hated them all so much, they were below her.

"They are weak." She bit out.

But no matter how many times she told herself this, she still found herself …wanting.

Wanting something that she could not have nor name, but there was something that those Genin had, that she didn't and she wanted it.

Maybe that was why she was here, to see what she wanted and could never have.

They were her age, except she had the skill and rank that was worth acknowledgement while they barely could call themselves shinobi.

Her eyes narrowed at a girl who was currently being praised by her father.

Watching the girl smile and laugh made her chest heavy and hallow.

She loathed the feeling.

Refusing to watch anymore of the celebrating Genin she closed her eyes and leaned against the bark of the tree, she did nothing but listen to the sound of rustling wind and the soft whine of an empty swing…

* * *

"Oi! Uzumaki!" Came a shout.

Said blonde looked up as he walked up to the Academy he noticed Konohamaru waving at him enthusiastically.

Naruto stopped in front of the newly graduated Genin, ruffling his hair, he said. "Congratz on getting the lowest rank." A cocky grin had plastered itself on his face.

Konohamaru bristled while fixing his shining new hitai-ate that Naruto had messed up. "Hmph… at least I graduated my first time.." He muttered.

Naruto grinned even wider despite the insult. "You know Konohamaru…" He started. "…you're not a true shinobi until you're a Jounin." He drawled with his hands behind his neck.

"You said that when you were a Chuunin and Genin before that!" Konohamaru barked back pointing an accusingly finger at the blonde Jounin.

Naruto smirked. "…and I'll say it again when I become Hokage." He said nonchalantly as if it was already a fact.

"That's if you ever become Hokage." Konohamaru added trying to ruse the blonde into a fight.

Naruto narrowed his eyes threateningly and was about to retort when he heard a familiar deep and exasperated voice.

"Are you two fighting again?" Said a Jounin.

Asuma Sarutobi approached the two younger shinobi and ruffled the Genin's hair and once more muddling his new hitai-ate.

"Congratulations Konohamaru." Asuma said genuinely. "Ohayo Naruto." He then greeted.

"Asuma-senpai." Naruto responded.

"Oi, Konohamaru do you want to go get yakiniku?" He looked down at the scowling Genin. "To celebrate?" He added.

Konohamaru looked at him and nodded enthusiastically before he turned to Naruto. "Do you want to come?"

Naruto was about to respond when a sharp whisper echoed though his mindset like a dagger, cutting away all other thoughts.

"_**Look.."**_

_Look where?_

A vicious snarl erupted.

"Naruto?"

His vision sharpened immediately and instinctively his eyes flickered to his left. He saw nothing but a tree with an empty swing; it jolted some painful memories…

"Naruto?" He felt someone poke him.

"I'll catch up with you later." He found his voice answered automatically.

"Alright...you sure?" The Genin asked.

He didn't want Konohamaru to see his eyes...

"Yeah."

"Kay, then I guess I'll see you later." He said unsurely.

Naruto eyes flickered at the departing figure of Konohamaru and Asuma...

"_**Look." **__It snarled impatiently. _

_I am._

His eyes felt a jolt of pain as unwanted chakra flowed to his eyes. Kyuubi rarely gave him _power_ anymore unless it was urgent…

_Stop it. I can see fine without your help._

It was then he saw her, a girl…

* * *

She loved the sound of the wind; it always lulled her to sleep at night. So as she listened to the birds chirp lightly and rustling of leaves she felt calm as the morning sun trickled through the old oak's canopy.

She found she liked this tree, she always had. Even though her time at the Academy had been brief she had always come to this tree, it soothed her. Even now she felt calmer after so many years of being away from this place.

The wind shifted and her eyes opened to meet a pair of ocean blue.

"Oi." Said the young man.

She looked him over, blonde messy locks that were partially tied back along with glistening eyes that were placed in strong features that held a boyish charm to them, all which was tied into his tan skin and orange attire.

She looked at his flak jacket and examined his chakra signature.

_Jounin._

Naruto looked down at the girl. Her eyes were like his but so much more pale along with her skin. She wore formfitting black clothing that covered everything except for her fingers and face. Her jet black hair was cut just above her shoulders and fell messily in front her eyes; it looked as if it had been slashed away by a simple kunai.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He said with a beaming smile.

No response.

His brow furrowed.

It was then he noticed the lack of hitai-ate. He looked back at the empty swing and another memory of how he failed to graduate came to his mind. His eyes focused back down at the girl.

"There's always next year ya' know." He assured her.

A small smirk etched itself onto her soft features followed by a cold and harsh laugh. Too cold for a twelve year old.

"What's so funny?" He asked unsure of himself, this girl reminded him of certain Uchiha.

The girl stood, her eyes looked him over seemingly sizing him up. She was so small, barely standing up to his chest.

Her stare finally met his; pale blue looked up at him, their gaze unwavering.

"I graduated years ago." Her feminine voice held amusement as her eyes looked away.

He simply stared at her.

She walked away from him. The wind seemed to pick up as she walked, it followed her almost.

"What's your name?"

She stopped. Not turning back but simply inclining her head in his direction. Pale eyes peered at him through messy midnight tresses that obscured her face.

"Higurashi." It was a barely a whisper carried by the breeze…

…and then like the wind she was gone.

He stared at the empty space where she used to be.

_What rank is she?_

Silence hung in the air.

-

-

-

-

-

"_**ANBU." **_

* * *

So I'm thinking Ita/_Kag_/Naru...Ita/Naru/_Kag_/Kyuu or Ita/Naru/_Kag_/Kyuu/Sasu?? (Try saying that three times real fast ^_^) (I do realize she is **only** twelve)

I felt like I rushed this..._(sigh) _So I'm sorry if the detail and dialogue are lacking...

_So is this a total failure or should I **continue **this random plot bunny??_

Review?

-Kimi

* * *


	2. Incommodious Vocabulary

Hey there!

Before I begin I would just like to bring up the issue about Kagome's age and the pairing. First of all, I know some of you are concerned or atleast wondering. Yes she is twelve and yes I do plan on pursuing whatever pairing I choose in the _future._ Honestly this is kind of hard to explain without ruining the plot, but basically Kagome is young and I don't plan on anything physical happening. However there will be... emotional _stuff_... as well as angst, drama, conflict, fighting _blah blah_. So as of now the males surrounding Kagome will be overprotective and nothing more. Well kind of more but not really, I can't explain it! ack! Just trust me!

Oh and as for pairing, still undecided but for all you it looks like your all deciding! Which is wonderful. I don't know if I'll have poll, but as of now I would love here some suggestions as the story progresses. (^-^)

And if you are wondering now, yes there will be a time skip. But I'm not saying anymore! (hides)

Ages:_ (As requested)_

Shisui- 22

Itachi- 19

Team Gai - 16

Naruto & Co. - 15

Kagome - 12

* * *

Stringy noodles swirled in a hot steaming broth that was topped with sliced pork, leeks, and onions. All of which stirred into a delicious deep amber liquid that gave off an irresistible aroma.

Which Naruto Uzumaki simply stared at for his mind was elsewhere instead of focused on his appetite.

His eyes narrowed as he thought over the girl's name.

_Higurashi?_

It was a strange name. Everything about that girl was strange; he just couldn't put his finger on what was so different about her. She was an enigma to him, something was off with her. He knew nothing while the fox knew something…

_No. _

He did know something about her and that was she was him back when he was her age.

So alone he was and that was how she was now.

_Alone._

All he saw was himself, watching the Genin graduate and no matter how many times he wished he could have been there with them, being happy. It never happened, that is until someone believed in him.

Iruka-sensei…

A smile ghosted across his lips.

His ghost of a smile vanished, when he pictured the girl.

Pale eyes cold and distant, watching him as if he was a threat.

"_I graduated years ago."_

She had graduated but she still wanted to be with those children, she wanted to be with them. She wanted to be happy…

_Would that have been me, if I hadn't met my friends?_

"_**Yes."**_

When he looked into her eyes he saw how truly alone she was. She looked so…

"_**Lost."**_

_You're being overly talkative today. _He accused the demon, finding it a little unnerving.

The fox didn't respond.

Naruto picked up the chopsticks, lazily stirring the noodles in the hot liquid. He looked up to see the ramen cook have a look of concern on his elderly features. "Nani?"

"You alright…" Teuchi Ichiraku asked. "You haven't even touched your ramen." He informed.

Ayame nodded absently as she dried a bowl with a rag. "You look kind of down Naruto-kun."

He shrugged. "Just encompassed in my thoughts I guess."

Teuchi gave a nod of understanding, knowing life as a shinobi would leave any man haunted.

"Since when do you get encompassed in your own thoughts…dobe?" It was cold, annoying, smooth but still _so_ annoying of a voice belonging to none other than…

"Sasuke-teme." Naruto said automatically.

The Uchiha Jounin sat on a stool next to him, elbows on counter and onyx eyes flickering to Ayame impatiently.

The young woman shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze. "What would you like Sas-" His eyes narrowed. "…Uchiha-san?"

"Sake."

She nodded and scurried away to retrieve the alcoholic beverage.

Naruto looked at his_ best_ friend. "So what's up?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You didn't show up for training this morning."

"Gomen, Teme. I couldn't though, Konohamaru wanted me over at his graduation ceremony."Naruto amended. "You still had Sakura."

Sasuke seemed to shudder slightly. "Hai…I did."

"What she do?" Naruto asked, nonchalantly knowing the Uchiha had a few broken bones.

"I told her_ not_ to use chakra when she punches…" He began. " and she told me not use my Sharingan if she didn't use chakra…"

"She did?" He was beginning to not feel so bad about skipping training for the Graduation.

Sasuke shook his head. "She swore she didn't but she still fractured both my legs, broke my nose, and shattered my arm."

Naruto looked him up and down. His black Uchiha emblazoned shirt and black pants weren't covered in blood, his arm wrappings were a bit miffed but overall seemed newly wrapped and his Jounin vest seemed fine.

"She healed you?"

Sasuke nodded slowly. "She said it was good medical practice."

"Did she numb the pain?"

"Iie" He said firmly. "She said that disabling the nerves would waste necessary chakra."

Naruto eyes widened. "Wow, she really did that?"

"I think we should have Sakura evaluated by Morino-san." Sasuke said broke in earnestly.

"What do you expect; Sakura-chan has been hanging around Anko-san lately."

Sasuke nodded. "That further proves my theory then…" His fingers laced together, eyes gleaming darkly.

"And what would that be?"

"Sakura Haruno is emotionally unstable and psychology insane."

"Nani?!" Screeched a feminine voice causing the Uchiha to wince visibly.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said excitedly, trying to ease the tension between his teammates.

"Naruto!" She greeted cheerily, her eyes landed on a certain Uchiha who had suddenly relocated himself on the other side of his blonde teammate. "I'm not insane." She grounded out, while plopping beside next to Naruto.

"Of course not." Sasuke muttered to himself, while swiftly downing a cup of sake then pouring another.

Ayame looked at Sakura with a meek smile.

Sakura beamed back. "Do you have any Shiruko?"

Ayame looked at her father. "Iie."

"Dango?"

Ayame shook her head.

The pink –haired Chuunin sunk back.

"I told you she has been hanging around Anko-san too much." Naruto whispered.

"It's a ramen stand Sakura what do you think they sell?" Sasuke said exasperatedly.

"Oden?"

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"I'm just kidding Sasuke-kun." She looked up at waitress. "I'm fine Ayame."

Ayame nodded and Sasuke went to sip his sake. Only to find the cup empty and in the hand of Sakura who now sat beside him. He narrowed his eyes sinisterly which only made the pink-haired kunoichi throw back a cheery grin.

"I think she's taking after Tsunade-baachan as well." Naruto whispered to Sasuke again, who smirked as Sakura began to pour more of the liquid into her cup.

Moments passed, with the only sound of Naruto's slurping and Sakura's meager chatting with Ayame.

Sasuke spoke. "Are you going to apply for ANBU?"

Naruto looked up at him. "I don't know." He paused. "Are you?"

Sasuke nodded.

Sakura leaned over. "You want to be on the same roster as Itachi." She stated.

Sasuke nodded once more, his eyes gleaming.

"You should apply." Ayame said to Naruto. "You're more than capable."

"I don't know if ANBU really suits me…" He pictured that young girl he saw at the Academy.

"Hyuuga is applying." Sasuke added.

Sakura laughed bitterly. "Well that's perfect; your two rivals will all be on the same roster then."

Naruto didn't listen to his teammate's conversation but thought to himself.

_If she looked to be around a Genin's age and she was ANBU in rank then she must have been a…_

"_**Jounin." **__Kyuubi's voice was anxious__**. "Ask Uchiha, he has been a Jounin longer." **__The fox seemed to urge almost as if it was a threat. _

Naruto couldn't help it, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, the kitsune was extremely overly talkative.

"I just don't see the point in your obsessive rivalry Sasuke, it's unhealthy." Sakura was giving him her usual lecture.

"Sasuke." Naruto interrupted.

The Uchiha Jounin looked at him, brow raised at the _lack_ of the crude nickname.

"Higurashi, has that name ever been on the Jounin roster?"

"It sounds like a surname." Sakura added.

"I've heard it mentioned." The Uchiha said nonchalantly as he took back his cup from Sakura.

"When?" He was curious.

"Shortly after I was promoted, about a year ago." His onyx eyes flickered over to him. "Why?"

Naruto continued. "What was said?" He urged.

The Uchiha paused, and then spoke. "It was about a promotion." Sasuke eyes gleamed. "I saw it on the roster a few days before that as well…" He said.

Naruto waited.

"It was strange." Sasuke added.

"What was strange?" Sakura asked, enthralled now.

"This _Higurashi_ had no assigned team." He stated.

"That's not possible; each Jounin has an assigned team even if all they do is solo missions." Sakura was a walking rule book.

"Hai… well this Jounin obviously didn't need a team and from what I heard this shinobi had only been a Jounin for about a year before being promoted to-"

"ANBU." Naruto said bit out.

Sakura looked at him. "You alright."

Naruto stood. "I need to talk to Tsunade-baachan." Throwing down a few bills he began to walk away.

"Naruto!" Sakura called.

He stopped.

Sasuke looked at him strangely. "Dobe."

Naruto turned back.

"Kaa-san invited you over for dinner. " Sasuke said.

The Jinchuuriki nodded and flickered out of sight.

"I'm not invited?" Sakura asked, sounding offended.

Sasuke sighed. "You were, but I'm revoking the invitation."

Sakura stood while throwing money down on the counter. "Kay then, I guess I'll be at the Uchiha manor by…" She began.

"Six." He said already knowing he was beaten.

Sakura nodded. "See you then Sasuke."

"Go away."

When the kunoichi left he heard her muttering something along the lines of 'If only the rest of those Uchihas were as pleasant as their mother.'

He sighed heavily, downing the rest of his sake, knowing he need it especially with his mother, his teammates, his brother, probably Shisui and his father all at one table…Sasuke shuddered.

His thoughts wandered over to the name, _Higurashi_.

_Why would Naruto care? Why would he care about…_

"…Kagome." He said to himself.

It was all so strange.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune said meekly.

Deep amber eyes glanced from the contents of a document to her assistant, standing before her desk in her office surrounded by a never ending supply of paperwork.

"Hmm?" She was in a pleasant mood this afternoon, having just spent the morning relaxing with a good card game, which she lost obviously _but_ it was accompanied by alcohol. As of yet life couldn't be better.

"Naruto Uzumaki is waiting to see you." Shizune stated.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, now she was in the best state of mind in years, due to the fact that Naruto had actually showed some maturity instead of barging into office, especially when he had the tendency to come in when she was having an excruciating hangover.

Life was good.

"Send him in." She said simply, placing down the file of some miscellaneous mission report.

Shizune nodded and walked back.

A few moments passed until the Jounin walked in. His stride was steady, his aura positive, his smirk was confident but his eyes…

They flittered about anxiously, erratic, searching…

"You've come here for good reason I assume." Her voice was harsh. No love better than harsh love to pull one together.

He nodded. "I wanted to request information about a certain shinobi."

"I can't guarantee anything." She stated firmly.

He stood there not sure on what to say. The fox was erratic, it was literally roaring in the back of his mind. But it wasn't loud, it was more like the unclear background noise that made you focus on it, distracting you, and the longer he listened to Kyuubi's snarls the more and more a knot twisted itself in his gut.

"Spit out Naruto!" She snapped.

"Higurashi." He blurted out.

"What did you just say?" She asked, stunned.

"I need information on the kunoichi known as Higurashi." He said, emphasizing more.

"Why?" Tsunade's _young _face contorted into an unreadable expression.

"I saw a girl outside of the Academy who identified herself as Higurashi."

"This was in the morning." She stated.

Naruto nodded.

Tsunade leaned back, brows furrowing. "So that's why she skipped her appointment." She muttered to herself. Her amber eyes clashed blue. "You still haven't told me why."

Naruto didn't answer, he didn't know why. He couldn't just say curiosity or the fact that he had evil demon fox urging him to continue on searching for this girl or the fact that she was so alone. Although this was all so true, it was so much more. He couldn't explain it, but every time he thought of that delicate girl being in ANBU, it made the knot in his stomach contort even more and began to heat his frustration.

"Curiosity." He said simply, finding no other suitable answer.

"I cannot give you any information." Tsunade began to wave him off. "She outranks you anyway."

"I don't understand how that affects anything" He retorted. The knot in his stomach twisted painfully. His voice rose to a yell. "I also don't understand how you allowed a twelve year old girl into the ranks of ANBU! I thought you were better-" He yelled until the Tsunade's fiery temper finally flared.

"Stop!" She yelled.

_Where the hell did that come from?_

She thought, as something must have been eating away at him, for him to snap at her like that.

Silence, that is until the Godaime spoke.

"Now you listen, you little gaki. Kagome Higurashi belongs to the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai." Tsunade's warm eyes narrowed into cold slits, and her voice was low and threatening. "So whatever reason you may have to intervene in that girl's life, it isn't going to happen because I won't let it happen. This isn't some game Naruto." Her voice rose in its timbre. "I have been dealing with Kagome Higurashi, since I took over as the Godaime Hokage and I won't have you playing hero like you did with Gaara and throw yourself on the girl because you maybe want to help her with your overbearing sense of friendship."

Naruto just stood there.

_Kagome... _

_Kyuubi snickered.** "Cute name." **_

His eyes darkened. "Gomen nasai, Hokage-sama." He said reverently. "I didn't mean to intervene on the girl's life, but I was simply curious." He took a deep breath. "I realize this isn't a game and I was a lot younger when I tried to help Gaara, so if I came off overbearing then I regret that." He paused. "However I don't regret what I did for Gaara, nor do I regret any part of my past." Their gazes locked. "But when I saw this girl…"

"You saw yourself." Tsunade said, seeing the haunted nostalgia in his eyes.

He nodded numbly.

Tsunade sighed.

"What do you plan on doing?"

Naruto spoke somberly. "I want to help her."

"How?" Tsunade was still skeptical.

Naruto shrugged. "There is no real way to explain it but I remember when someone finally took notice of me and … believed in me. It was then I found others who did the same." He smiled slightly. "And I found myself not alone anymore and… actually happy."

Tsunade stared, her face was blank.

"So all I want is to know more about her."

Silence.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

"Fine." The Godaime muttered.

Naruto perked up.

"I hope you're prepared." Tsunade smirked."I'm technically not violating the classification codes if I tell you this." Tsunade began. "Since Kagome Higurashi was put under a mandatory probation this past year so she technically is not an active ANBU member."

"Why?"

Tsunade held a finger up to the Jounin to be quiet and then she called Shizune back into her office.

The Hokage's assistant came in and stood before their Hokage beside Naruto. "Hai, Tsunade-sama?"

"I need you to retrieve a file on ANBU member: Kagome Higurashi, Class S under the Exceptional Personnel and Special Cases category."

Naruto raised a brow when Shizune hurried off. "Am I in that category?"

Tsunade nodded.

Naruto grinned. "It's for the exceptional part, am I right?"

Tsunade's face stayed grim. "I said this wasn't a game." She snapped.

His grin vanished.

A few tense moments passed.

Shizune came back with a manila folder in hand and handed it to her Hokage.

"Arigato Shizune."

Shizune gave a curt bow then left.

The light shuffle of papers was heard as Tsunade flipped through the contents of the folder.

"What would you like to know?" Tsunade said offhandedly.

"Well who is she?"

Tsunade raised a brow. "A bit broad, but I guess I can tell you…" She sighed. "Kagome is a girl who unfortunately fell through the cracks."

"What do you mean?"

"She is obviously a prodigy, considering her age and rank." She paused. "However when the Sandiame retired and I took over as the Kage of Konoha, Kagome was a Chuunin then. "

"That was three years ago, she was-" He was cut off.

"Nine. " Tsunade rubbed her temples. "She graduated at seven, reached Chuunin by nine, Jounin by ten and ANBU by 11."

Naruto nodded. "She surpassed even Itachi."

Tsunade nodded. "Intellectually she has, but in fighting capability Itachi is superior." Tsunade smirked. "But not by much. Kagome has impressive shinobi skills but her intelligence is … unparalleled."

"But how did she 'fall through the cracks'?"

Tsunade's grew weary. "It was simple, during the change in power; I was unaware of Kagome's …_situation._" Tsunade saw the question in the Jinchuuriki's eyes. "So when I saw her chart and her mission success rate, I instantly promoted her to Jounin."

"No exam?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not when I saw the results of her Chuunin exam results."

"What were they?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell. It's not classified but its private information." She sighed. "Even her ranking history isn't really any of your business, so by me telling you this …I'm just being nice."

Naruto snorted indignantly at the last statement.

"Is that all?"

Naruto shook his head. "Iie, how come I've never heard of her. I mean Itachi is known as the Uchiha prodigy by everyone so if this girl even challenges him in skill then -"

"She doesn't belong to a pompous clan that brags left and right about their heir and his skills." Tsunade rolled her eyes. "To be honest Itachi is quite overrated."

Naruto's eye twitched.

"Still… I see your point. In fact it was her request that no one heard of her skill, so it was put under private information unless it was requested…"

"But why?"

Tsunade shrugged. "When asked, she responded saying that she didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself." Tsunade seemed to admire the girl. "She is quite humble... to an extent."

"What about family?"

Tsunade shook her head. "You're delving into the realm of personal information that doesn't pertain to you Uzumaki."

"How can I help her, if you don't tell me something…" He drawled.

"Fine." The Godiame said callously. "She has none, we found her at the bottom of a well just outside the village. Her whole front was covered in blood, we all thought she was dead but in truth she didn't even have a scratch."

Naruto stood there, somewhat regretting his question. "When was this?"

"Ten years ago, she was just a toddler." Tsunade shook her head. "But it just doesn't all add up."

"What do you mean?"

"We found her dressed in fine silk, along with white fur and jewels albeit it was covered in blood, it was still surprising to find a two year old wearing all of that. Whatever her lineage is, her family must have been wealthy." The Godiame paused. "But what strikes me, is that if her family was so wealthy and most likely powerful, then wouldn't have they come looking for her? Or at least we hear of a missing hime or heiresss?"

"So you heard nothing?"

Tsunade nodded. "And we didn't want to announce it either considering she might fall into the wrong hands."

"Konoha basically kept her as a secret then."

"That's what the Council wanted." She said offhandedly. "So we placed her with the Clan that discovered her."

"What clan?"

"She was discovered near the Nara's deer grazing area, Shikaku Nara is actually the one who discovered her." She informed.

"Wait so Shikamaru knows-"

"Kagome was placed with his family until she was seven, since then she has lived on her own with Shikamaru periodically checking in on her." Tsunade looked at him. "It was the obvious choice, considering the Nara Clan has a history of having extreme intellect so we placed her with that Clan so she could relate to them better and we trusted them not to exploit her."

_She's been right under my nose this entire time…_

_The fox snickered in the background. __**"Excellent analogy."**_

_Shut it. _

"But what about her surname, is there no Higure Clan?"

"Iie there was no Clan heard of by that name."

"Then how did you get that name?" Naruto asked rigidly, brushing off the fact that he had a sadistic fox talking in his head.

"She told us, she didn't speak until she was four but we knew she was prodigy by the way she told us." Tsunade continued. "When she was two years of age, she wrote decent sentences with very few grammatical errors, she was quite shy so she told us information through that."

"Why not tell you what country she came from?"

"She said she couldn't remember." Tsunade said skeptically.

"_**She lied." **__Kyuubi's curiosity was sated. __**"We're done here." **__It seemed as if the fox was __tired of this._

_We still don't know one thing…_

"Tsunade-baachan.."

Tsunade looked up.

"You still haven't told me why she was put on mandatory probation."

"I haven't for a reason." Tsunade's eyes darkened. "If you are serious about helping this girl then I don't want you to know."

Naruto there for moment and was about to protest but then finally nodded, knowing this was all he would be able to pry out of the Hokage.

He turned to leave.

"_**Aren't you going to ask what her abilities are?" **__It seemed to mock. _

_I have no interest in training with her; I just want to help her. _

Naruto could just picture the fox grinning deviously.

_I should've gone to training with teme._ Naruto thought , feeling as if his whole future had just been altered within a matter of hours.

_Kyuubi just simply chuckled.__** "Hai, you should have." **_

* * *

"Tsunade-sama."

"Hmmm?" Tsunade looked up at Shizune, surely her assistant had something important to say to interrupt her twice in the past hour.

"Why did you give Naruto so little information about Higurashi-san."

"I didn't give him information on her techniques because he would eventually-"

"I'm not talking about that." Shizune snapped. "I'm talking about her-"

Tsunade raised a brow. "You mean her indirect masochistic tendencies, emotional instability, suicidal nature, history of substance overdose, pessimistic views, insomnia, and almost non-existant appetite."

Shizune listened as Tsunade listed the most prominent factors on Kagome Higurashi's chart.

Shizune nodded. "All of which, factor into Dysthymia."

"I don't want to hinder Kagome's only chance at being happy." Tsunade said offhandedly as she scanned through the various paperwork.

"So you believe that Naruto can actually help her."

Tsunade nodded, deep amber eyes scanning over a scroll in hand. "Hai, I do. So I didn't see the need for him to know." Tsunade stamped the scroll. "Kagome will be fine." She added.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, I was like her once." She rolled up the scroll, placing document aside and moving onto the next one.

_I was lost in my own grief and it took a certain boy to find me. _

* * *

She simply stared at the ceiling.

Eyes blank, staring. However her mind raced, it always did.

She was thinking about the Jounin who confused her with undergraduate Genin. She smirked.

Most would have been insulted but she was actually quite pleased, his eyes were not wary of her and his body language wasn't as tense like so many others who met her. He didn't judge her. It only lasted a few moments but for those few moments she didn't feel so …empty.

He actually made her laugh. Made her forget she was in the ANBU ranks and made her feel…

_Happy?_

_No._

It wasn't happiness she felt; she felt nothing at that moment. Her mind was at peace and didn't wonder about meaningless weapon calculations, defensive techniques that would best suit her ninjutsu or counterattacks that might deflect Fire element…

"Stop." She commanded the second entity that resided in her body, also known as her brain.

So she stared, trying to keep her mind as blank as possible.

How long she'd been there she didn't know, lying here, limbs sprawled on her futon as she stared.

She felt a warm ball of fur curl up next to her.

It purred loudly as it nestled itself next to her side.

"Buyo…your one fat ball of fur." She muttered as she poked the neko's squishy stomach.

The cat didn't move. "Lazy." She accused.

She closed her eyes, it was deathly silent. The whistle of the wind could not be heard, so no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep.

A knock was heard.

"Kagome-san?" Came a muffled voice from behind the door.

Silence.

Another knock.

A heavy sigh was heard behind the door.

Another knock.

"Go away Shikamaru." She responded annoyed.

A muddled curse and the word 'troublesome' was heard.

"I can't." There was a pause. "…unfortunately."

No response.

"Tsunade-sama told me to check on you."

She rolled her eyes.

_Well that just changes everything._ She thought sarcastically.

"Leave me alone." She shouted.

"I wish I could." He replied bitterly.

Her eyes narrowed, burning holes through the ceiling.

"Just open up." He said, his voice muffled.

She rolled over on her side, her back facing the door.

He knocked again.

"It's open you baka." She responded.

She heard the door open. Then steady footsteps.

She felt his eyes scrutinizing her.

"An ANBU Captain shouldn't leave their door open." He reprimanded her.

"And a Chuunin shouldn't barge into a Captain's residence." She retorted.

He sighed heavily. "This is _always_ so troublesome."

She laid back on her futon, limbs sprawled once more.

"Have you been sleeping?" He asked automatically.

Her head snapped towards him. "Does it look like I have been sleeping?" She responded coldly.

She noticed the bags in his hands.

"What do you have?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Food and your medicine." He responded.

"Leave it on the counter."

The Nara sighed. "Nice try."

She shrugged. "One can only attempt." She said nonchalantly.

"Kagome.." His brows furrowed. "Why didn't you go to your appointment with Morino-san?"

She shrugged once more. "I was busy."

"What were you doing?"

She closed her eyes.

_Tick _

_-_

_Tick_

_-_

_Tick_

_-_

Seconds ticked by on the clock before the prodigy answered the genius.

"The Genin graduated today…" Her voice was dispassionate.

Shikamaru brows furrowed. "Why did you go there?"

She opened her eyes slowly; her lashes kissed her cheeks as she looked back at him. "I wanted to see what I was missing…" Her voice grew hoarse.

He simply just stood there, brows furrowing.

She laughed bitterly. "I'm just an emotional masochist."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I'll never understand no matter how long I get to know you."

The raven haired ANBU shrugged lightly. "How's the Clan?" She said as she sat up, sitting on the bed.

"Fine."

The Nara felt as if she didn't want to talk about it any longer. Kagome was like that. Never talking much about what was going on, _inside_. Not even to him and he'd known since she was a toddler. His Clan found her and his mother raised her until she was old enough to take care of herself. Which was around the age of four, now eight years later; she was so lost. A lost soul, she was. So lost it couldn't even be seen. That's how she felt, she told him once, invisible because no one ever took notice of her.

"Okaa-san wants you over for dinner tonight." He replied automatically.

She stood. "I don't know if I'll be able to…" She trailed off.

"For my sake…" He began, knowing how demanding his mother was. "…indulge that troublesome woman."

She sighed. "She fawns over me like a child..."

"It is quite troublesome." He agreed.

Kagome gave him a pointed glance. "I hate it when you use that word."

He looked at her. His face showed that he was actually somewhat insulted.

"Indulge yourself into a synonym." She advised with a smirk.

Shikamaru couldn't even get in a word before she started…

"Such as…annoying, arduous, austere, bothersome, burdensome, cumbersome, demanding, difficult…" She continued listing.

"I get it."

"…incommodious, inconvenient, irksome, laborious…" _And_ continued.

"I get it."

_And_ continued.

"…strenuous, taxing, tiresome, toilsome, unrelenting, vexatious, vexing, wearisome…"

"I get it." He sighed heavily. "You forgot a few though…" He reminded her.

She nodded. "Hai, but I only chose words that were phonetically similar to troublesome."

"And in alphabetical order?"

She nodded absently barely taking note that she could list phonetically comparable synonyms in alphabetical order off an arbitrary word, right off the top of her head.

"What about _drag_?"

She shook her head. "That only has one syllable…" She scrunched her nose. "I can't imagine you ever saying that."

"This is such a _drag_…" He said mockingly.

She raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't sound natural." She corrected.

He sighed.

"So how about you make me lunch?" The ANBU said apathetically.

The Chuunin rolled his eyes.

"Fine."

He began to unpack the groceries and started the process of the midday meal.

Shikamaru started the stove and then sighed."This is so…" He started but saw her pale eyes glare at him.

"…incommodious?"

* * *

(cackles) Well this is going to be fun!

Either some of you hate me for making Kagome so messed up or your like me cause it makes it that more twisted! (^_~)

Oh if you are concerned with her age, read the A/N above.

Info:

_Dysthymia- is considered a chronic depression but with less severity than major depressive disorder. This disorder tends to be a chronic, long lasting illness._

_(coughs) _Just because she's depressed doesn't mean shes weak _(coughs)_

Personally I think Kagome sounds cool but thats just me, it makes it more fun to write. I'm actually pleased with this chapter's length!

Alrightly then, this is the part where I beg YOU to review, but since many of you are impervious to my pleas I shall bring out my secret weapon!

_(brings out chibi prodigy Kagome)_

_(Waves chibi): Don't make poor Gome-chan even more chronically depressed by not reviewing!_

_Chibi Kagome: ..._

_(Brings out chibi Kyuubi) _

_Chibi Kyuubi: **Grrrr...**_

_Press button below and review! _

_Press it! __Now! _

_Chibi Shikamaru: What drag..._

_Chibi Kagome: (Glares)_

_(Hugs chibi) _

_~Kimi _

_**Just Press the Button!** _

* * *


	3. The Day When Two Prodigies Collide

**Author's Note:**This is the product of pure and unadulterated laziness; I've been lazy and started writing this just two days ago. So if my updating is slow and you happen upon this and this is like a month since I last updated…feel free to yell at me. I'm serious I need some urging. I am a procrastinator, plain and simple. I don't do things unless its urgent so if you guys tell me to get off my lazy a** and write then it might send a message to me a few weeks from now! Oh and by the way I hope you like the length, but by the end… you'll hate me…cliffhangers are fun to write (^-^) As for the pairing, still fumbling around with it! Tossing around some ideas in the thing I call a brain! Hope you enjoy enjoy this chapter! ~Kimi

* * *

"Sasuke. Where are Naruto and Sakura?" Mikoto asked kindly as she set down a stack of bowls on the low formal dining table.

"The dobe probably got lost and Sakura most likely went after him." He said apathetically.

"Hn."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the one who made the infamous Uchiha grunt, in fact he knew that his brother was mocking his teammates; taking into account how usually obnoxious they were and their tardiness wasn't exactly helping matters.

"Where is Shisui, Aniki?" Sasuke retorted.

Itachi Uchiha looked up, his onyx eyes scanned over his brother until their gazes met, unwavering the Uchiha brothers seemed to have a staring contest. But of course they would never admit to such childish antics.

Sasuke glared at his older sibling, he was wearing the usual Uchiha emblazoned high collared shirt along with white pants, much like his own attire.

"At the hospital; his wounds have still yet to heal from our last mission." He said simply as he sipped his Umeshu.

"Your mission was last week." Sasuke accused.

"Your deductive reasoning skills are quite sharp, otouto." Itachi smirked. "I never realized that Shisui has had an extended recovery time than what is considered the norm. "

Itachi seemed to be overly sarcastic today.

"And your humor is still dry as ever…" Sasuke drawled as he sipped his tea.

"Boys…" Mikoto warned from the kitchen.

Sasuke always felt a little unnerved that his mother could _always_ hear them.

It was then Sasuke realized it probably had nothing to do with hearing but most likely if they exchanged more than five sentences, things were getting hostile.

"You still haven't given me a reason as too why his recovery has been elongated." Sasuke felt a familiar chakra signature enter the Uchiha manor. "From what I saw, his wounds weren't exactly severe."

He heard the door open, accompanied with soft footsteps and then followed soon after with an annoyingly cheery voice.

"Ah, that is because it was a degenerative poison Sasuke-kun." His eyes flicked to the doorway, where a mop of pink hair and beaming green eyes seemed to mock him.

"Sakura." He greeted impersonally.

Unaffected, Sakura walked over and ruffled Sasuke's hair casually and looked at Itachi with a swift smile.

The rosette colored kunoichi sat beside her scowling teammate and continued. "Although I got most of it out, there was still an infinitesimal…" She pinched two fingers together until there was barely any space between them to emphasize how little there was. "…amount, and once that happened it slowly ate away at Shisui-san's muscle tissue, but it was sooo small..." Emphasizing with the fingers_ again _she continued her explanation. " …I couldn't extract it so I had to neutralize it."

Sasuke sighed thankful her explanation was over until his hopes were suddenly shattered. "But!" Sakura exclaimed. "In order to neutralize it I had to counter the poison itself, so in order to do that I had to study it in live action!" She was so enthralled it was almost comical. "So I had Shisui-san make periodical visits to the hospital as I witnessed firsthand the degenerative effects of the toxin." Scratch that it was comical. "It was absolutely fascinating."

"Shisui had to tolerate the poison until Haruno-san developed the neutralizing agent necessary to counter the toxin." Itachi added, looking at Haruno with a raised brow.

Sasuke shuddered, realizing that his theory from earlier on that day may have been true as well as other things.

_Sakura is a closet sadist. _

"So is he cured?" Mikoto asked cheerily.

Sasuke observed the exchange between the two women, the only two that were currently involved in his life. The mere thought made him that more depressed.

"Hai, he is now. But his right tibialis anterior is somewhat-" The pink-haired sadist was cut off by a rather peeved voice.

"In excruciating and undeniable pain." In came a limping Shunshin no Shisui. His charcoal eyes were set in strong features accented by tanned skin and long black hair that was tied back. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt with the Uchiha crest imprinted on the back along with white pants. His eyes narrowed at the Medic-nin who shot him a cheery grin.

Sakura laughed nervously, her eyes darting to her teammate for assistance for anyone could feel the contempt that was radiating off of Shisui.

"Shisui why don't you take a seat." Mikoto offered seemingly breaking the tension.

Shisui nodded and sat beside Itachi.

"What would you two like to drink?" Mikoto asked her two guests. "Sake?" Knowing Sasuke had recently developed a liking towards it, but just never in front of her.

Sakura shook her head. "Iie, never touch the stuff." She said innocently.

"Hn." Sasuke almost sneered at that, earning a jab in ribs and an amused smirk from Itachi.

"I'll just have tea, Mikoto-san."

"Sake will be fine for me." Shisui added.

Mikoto nodded and walked back to the kitchen.

Silence fell over them.

Viridian eyes flickered to a glaring Shisui, an emotionless Itachi and an annoyed Sasuke. But of course Sakura looked over that and voiced the first thing that came to mind.

"Do you guys have a uniform code to abide by or something?" All eyes landed on the kunoichi who started to fidget in her seat. "Nani?" She pointed to Sasuke. "You all wear the same thing." She pulled on Sasuke's dark fabric seemingly defending an obvious point that was never challenged. "See."

Shisui snorted.

"Otouto." Itachi began. "It seems that your teammate's deductive reasoning skills exceed your own."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, mentally. "Hai." But agreed with Itachi's version of an insult.

Sakura flicked the youngest of the brothers on the side of the head and muttered a very unladylike comment concerning Uchihas and their manners. Which of course they heard.

A few tense moments passed and Sakura yawned loudly. "So when is Naruto going to get here?"

No one answered.

"He went to see the Hokage about someone in ANBU…." Her eyes flickered over to Itachi and Shisui. "Do you anyone that goes by the surname of Higurashi?"

"Iie." Itachi sipped his drink.

Shisui spoke. "We don't go by names in ANBU pinky; we go by our code names."

"And those would be?" Her curiosity got the better of her.

"Well that is top secret information that is only privy to those in Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai."

"I-guru and Nezumi." Sakura stated.

"Oi! Who told you?"

"Your masks." She drawled. "I've seen you two wear them before, so I guessed."

Shisui was about to snap back but a very loud and distinguishable voice echoed through the Uchiha manor.

"Kaa-chaaan!"

"Naruto-kun." Mikoto greeted from the kitchen. The Uchiha matriarch treated the Jinchuuriki as her third son.

From the kitchen a few scant phrases could be heard as well as an invitation to sit down at the table, where three Uchihas and a Haruno currently resided.

"Oi Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted lazily as he walked into the dining room.

Sakura smiled warmly back.

Naruto looked up at the three dark haired males and greeted them like he always did. "Teme." He looked at Sasuke then to Shisui. "Teme." Then to Itachi. "Teme."

"Dobe." Sasuke acknowledged his teammate languorously.

"Baka." Shisui grounded out with a glower.

"Konbanwa." Itachi replied civilly.

Then Naruto took a seat next his best friend. Sakura rolled her eyes at how systematic they could all be.

Mikoto soon walked in with three cups of sake. Setting down one by Sakura, Naruto and Shisui.

"Oh Mikoto-san I don't drink sake." Sakura said.

"Neither do I." She said and placed the cup before the pink –haired kunoichi.

Naruto snickered as he sipped his beverage.

Sakura blushed from embarrassment then looked at Naruto. "So what did the Hokage say?"

This perked a few people's interest.

He shrugged.

Naruto was …quiet…

Sakura's brow creased. "Did you find this Higurashi girl."

His vibrant blue eyes glanced over to her. "Iie. I haven't even tried looking yet." He then stopped his thoughts for a moment. "Who said it was a girl?"

Sakura gaped. "Uhhh…" She smiled nervously. "I didn't say that…"

"You did." Sasuke pointed out.

"Really?" She snapped at Sasuke.

"Really." He drawled.

"Prove it." Sakura stated smugly.

"Get out of my house." Sasuke said casually.

Sakura stared at him in disbelief.

"Sasuke." Mikoto warned from the kitchen.

Sakura smiled innocently but her eyes took on a fiendish gleam.

"You're avoiding the subject Sakura-chan." Naruto pointed out.

"Am I?"

"Yes you are."

"You sure?"

"For the love of-"

"What are you all talking about?" Shisui snapped.

"I don't know." Sakura shrugged.

"You're doing it again." Sasuke snapped.

"Doing what?"

"Can you please tell me how you found out she was a girl?" Naruto hollered, getting annoyed very fast.

Sakura gave up. "Well I have access to semi-classified files considering I am the Hokage's apprentice…" She began. "So I just looked up the surname Higurashi and poof!" She waved a manila folder. "I found the address of one Kagome Higurashi!" Inner-Sakura was beaming with self-gratification.

"You're so awesome Sakura-chan." Naruto said appraisingly and swiftly grabbed for the folder.

His eyes scanned over it, it gave no rank, no skills, no chakra elements...nothing that would be helpful to potential enemies. Just basic information; in fact not even a portrait was displayed.

_Name: Kagome Higurashi_

_Gender: Female_

_Date of Birth: April 27_

_Blood Type: AB_

His eyes scanned over the central information until they landed on her address.

He'd have to sit on this information for a bit.

Mikoto soon came into the dining room with a large platter of steaming food.

"Dinner!"

He looked at her delicate name carved harshly into the paper in printed font. Such a small encounter with her led him to this. It was then he realized their paths were now and forever interconnected.

With that thought in mind Naruto could only hear the dark chuckle of Kyuubi seemingly mocking him and thus strengthening his argument.

* * *

"You can at least open your eyes."

"I don't come here for the clouds Shikamaru."

Said Nara sighed and rolled his eyes at the young girl lying next to him. The two of them were currently lying in a field where cumulus clouds formed overhead while the soft golden rays of the setting sun made the billows glow.

Shikamaru had always come here to participate in his favorite pastime: cloud watching. Yet Kagome had somehow weaseled her way into this hobby, but not to watch clouds. No. Kagome came here for a very different reason...

A soft breeze made the branches of the surrounding trees whistle and old wood moan. Shikamaru looked at the young ANBU Captain's face; a soft and content upturn of the lips presented itself onto her features.

Yes, he came here to watch the clouds while Kagome came here to listen to the wind.

A satisfied sigh escaped her lips. "That was a good meal." She commented on the dinner his mother had just prepared for them.

"You barely ate anything." He pointed out.

"That still doesn't obscure the fact that it was good."

He said nothing.

The wind died down as well, leaving the clearing deathly silent except for the distant call of crows.

"How much longer will I be on probation?" She asked suddenly.

He raised a brow. "I thought you hated ANBU."

She shrugged. "It was something to do." She opened her immense blue eyes. He stared into them; they were so shadowed in the dying light. The murky blue-grey irises were outlined by a dark ring of navy; within each orb he could see the coils of light and dark shades of grey that stretched across the plains of blue. They seemed to dictate the color of her eyes as well her moods.

He sighed heavily, feeling weary from the pure weight of _her_. "They won't let you back in; not until you get your act together."

"Hn." She sneered. "There are people in ANBU that are way more messed up than me." She laughed bitterly.

He said nothing.

"Then again, it really has nothing to do with my capabilities but rather my age." She closed her eyes. "It threatens people and concerns others so they remove me in order to _save_ me." The wind began to pick up. "What do they think of me?" It grew momentum making the branches creak under pressure. "Some weak little girl who will just get happy all of a sudden." A branch snapped as the grass whipped around violently. "That the problem will just disappear." Large oaks began sway unnaturally.

"Kagome!"

Her eyes snapped open silencing the torrents of air immediately. "What is it?" She snapped.

He raised a brow. "You did it again."

She looked around, the grass looked trampled and the trees looked thrashed. Her eyes looked away from him in self humiliation.

The next moment she was already walking away.

He let her go.

* * *

She walked the dark streets of the Nara district, night had already fallen and she could hear the distant lullaby of the crickets. The soft crunch of gravel beneath her boots could be heard, she crossed her arms. A few people saw her pass and looked at her with a curious gaze. She ignored them.

A few minutes passed and she was out of the district and in common civilian living area. She reached a tall apartment building. She sighed and did what any ninja that was around the laziest Nara would do…

Focusing chakra into her feet she walked up the face of the building, the soles of her boots not making a sound as she casually scaled five stories.

Reaching her living area she entered the always open window and slid onto the bed. The bed was made, like always and there was the small indent that fit her form seamlessly.

She laid there for a moment then turned her head to look at the nightstand. A small cluster of pills lay there. Sitting up she picked up the tablets and palmed them, looking at the anti-depressants, sedatives, nutritional supplements and few other things she wasn't exactly sure of.

Fingering the pills she thought about saving them for later, but then again Shikamaru might catch on. Sighing in defeat she took the small handful of pills, tossed them in the back of her throat and swallowed.

Laying back she looked at the moon, it was eerie in her opinion. A half circle that shined down on her, it always kept her awake.

Minutes passed and eventually she found herself in hazy fog of old memories…

_Small fingers clutched a little notepad in small hands. She looked up, there were big kids playing on the sidewalk._

_They all ran in a circle around another child who had her hands covering her eyes. The children began to sing…_

"_Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage…"_

_They were calling her name._

"_When oh when will he get out?"_

_They all began to smile and run faster._

"_Up before the light of dawn."_

_It looked like a lot of fun. _

"_Crane and turtle slipped and fell." _

_She ran up to the circle and squeezed her way through the kids. The girl with her eyes covered looked nice. She tapped on the girl's shoulder. _

"_Who is behind you? Can you tell?"_

_Everyone stopped and the girl in the center uncovered her eyes. "Huh?" _

"_Oi kid you just ruined it." A boy blurted out. _

"_We'll have to start all over now…" _

_Another sighed. "She looks lost."_

_The girl in the center ignored the other kids, she had long dark hair and dark grey eyes. "My name is Yui." She said. "Yui Uchiha." She wore a grey high collared cheongsam with a red and white fan printed on the back. "What's your name?" _

_Scrambling, she nervously scrawled the kanji of her name onto paper._

'_Kagome' _

_She held up the notepad to girl known as Yui. _

"_What a weird name." Yui muttered._

"_Can't you talk?" A kid blurted out. _

_She scribbled down more writing. _

'_No' _

"_She's a freak." She heard the older kid comment. _

_She wrote again. 'I want to play'_

"_You're kind of young Kagome-san." Yui pointed out. _

"_Plus, how can you play if you can't talk?" A girl said smugly. _

_Kagome shrugged. She just wanted some friends…_

"_C'mon Yui let's go back to the compound." _

_They began to walk away from her. _

_She began to follow them…_

"_Kagome-san go back home." Yui urged politely. "Your parents must be worried." _

_She began to write._

'_I don't have any parents'_

"_She's an orphan…great…" _

_Yui sighed. "Kagome-san go back to where you came from." _

_She scrawled down a few kanji. _

'_But I want to play'_

"_You're too little. Go play with kids your own age." The Uchiha girl said. _

'_But I want to play with you'_

_Yui's brow creased. "Listen I don't want to play with you, so go away." She snapped and then turned swiftly around, walking away from Kagome making her feel very alone._

_A sharp wind blew, causing her notepad to fall from her hands. She looked down at her tiny fingers, they stung…_

_Clean slits began to bleed from the paper cuts she had just received. _

_She heard a cry of young child, her eyes snapped to her left to see a young boy being comforted by his mother. _

_She looked down at small cuts along her fingers and wondered…_

_Tears began to trickle down her hot cheeks._

…_how come she didn't have a mommy to make her feel better?_

* * *

A knock could be heard.

Her eyes shot open and she sighed. "Go away Shikamaru." She called.

The knocking continued. It wasn't the Nara.

_What a weird chakra signature. _She thought groggily.

She sat up and felt dizzy all of a sudden. Her whole body felt uncoordinated.

"Stupid drugs." She muttered to herself while clutching her head.

The knocking continued.

"Can you give me a second?!" She yelled at the door, piqued.

The knocking stopped.

She stood and almost immediately her vision was pervaded as she stumbled. Catching herself by grasping onto her nightstand she waited for the head rush to subside.

Eventually she stood erect, walked over to the door and viciously snapped the thing open.

She glared mercilessly at the person who dared to wake her from her drug induced sleep.

"What is it?" She snapped.

Blue eyes clashed with blue.

"Uhh…" The older boy gaped.

She looked at the blonde before her.

It was the same Jounin from yesterday.

_Why did I tell him my rank?_

Sighing she spoke harshly. "Listen I don't give any recommendations for application into ANBU nor do I sell out information on the examination process to potential candidates." She spoke her usual phrase and began to shut door when-

_This guy has some nerve._

She thought as she looked down at his leg shoved into the doorway.

"Okay then…" She opened it again, looking at him with a wary gaze. "What do you want?"

He smiled at her. "I don't want anything." He held up a brown paper bag and two bottles of water. "Breakfast?"

"You can't be serious." She stated dryly as she leaned against the doorway, crossing her arms.

"I am." He said with another annoying smile.

Shrugging the raven haired ANBU swiftly took a bottle from his hand, unscrewed the cap and chugged the liquid.

"Thirsty much?" He added.

Wiping her mouth she tossed the bottle out the door and turned away from him. "I'm dehydrated." She said, leaving the door wide open.

Picking up the empty bottle he walked in, taking it as the best invitation he would ever receive from her.

* * *

"So you want to train with me?" Kagome said with a raised brow.

Naruto nodded as he plopped another rice ball into his mouth.

"Why?" She leaned against the wall and propped her feat onto the low table where they sat. "I'm on probation."

"Doesn't mean you can't train." The blonde Jounin pointed out. "Besides I have a teammate who wants to apply for ANBU, you can help him."

"What's his name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha…" She thought about it. "Why doesn't his brother train him?"

Naruto shrugged. "They aren't on the best of terms; Teme wants to surpass Itachi."

She seemed to perk up at this information. "Is that so?" She said absently, her eyes gleaming.

"You don't like Itachi?" Naruto commented.

She shrugged. "Never really met him, but the way everyone talks about him gets annoying especially for me."

"How so?"

"Well, I mean…I am smarter." She pointed out. "But no one really notices that I reached Captain at twelve while he reached it at thirteen." She seemed to think for moment. "Then again neither of us really compare to Kakashi Hatake…"

"That's my sensei." Naruto admitted not too proudly. "Wait what you say about him?"

She seemed taken back. "Some team you got…" She paused. "Kakashi Hatake reached Chuunin at the age of six while Itachi Uchiha reached it at ten and I attained it at nine… so really he's a prodigy among prodigies."

"Umm…I was twelve…"

"Yeah, I wouldn't go preaching that to anybody." Kagome advised with a smirk. "So will I be training with your …sensei?"

"Yeah if he ever shows up, he's always late." Naruto took a sip of water. "Wait… you accept then?"

"I guess…considering I'll be getting something out of it."

"We usually train from six to six…" Naruto informed Kagome.

"Daily?"

He nodded.

"It's seven thirty." She drawled.

"But no one shows up til' eight."

"You're beginning to pick up your sensei's bad habits." She drawled.

"Oi! I'm just an impressionable student."

"Baka."

He smirked; things seemed to get off on a good start.

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki and Kagome Higurashi now walked side by side through the streets of Konoha. Naruto looked down at the young ANBU Captain and sighed. He was just making this up as he went along.

The only way he could help her was to be near and be a good friend, something he had needed when he was her age. But someone of her stature wouldn't take pity nor would they accept aid. No. She would have been insulted if he would offer friendship or tried to sympathize with her. So he asked for her assistance and her aid. In short she fell for it, for every prodigy has their pride.

At least his intentions were good.

"Do you like ramen?" Naruto suddenly asked.

She wrinkled her nose. "Not as much as you do."

"How-"

"I can smell it on you." She pointed out.

"Fine." His face curled into a pout.

She smirked.

They walked down the streets in a comfortable silence.

"Who's your other teammate?"

"Sakura Haruno, you may have heard of her. The Hokage's apprentice." Naruto informed.

"Iie." She said simply. "Never heard of her."

"Hmm, well she's a good medic with a hell of a punch."

"Cool." She said offhandedly, not showing much interest.

They were outside of the village now and approaching the training grounds. Entering the forested area Naruto took the lead down a well worn path through the trees; the morning light trickled through the canopy of lush leaves above.

When the path ended and the foliage cleared, Kagome was met by the sight of a pink-haired girl prodding a scowling teenage boy.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" The rosette haired girl yelled.

"I'm not training with you." Sasuke bit out, then flickered out of sight and reappeared on one of the three wooden posts.

"Stop acting like a child!" Sakura hollered.

"Stop acting like a hypocrite." Sasuke retorted sardonically.

Naruto looked down at Kagome who was watching the whole exchange with a raised brow. She looked up at him. "Shouldn't you do something?"

"I guess I should, it's not that bad though. Sakura hasn't thrown any punches yet."

She shot him a deadpan expression.

Sighing in defeat Naruto hollered. "Oi!"

Both of his teammate's heads snapped in his direction.

Sakura smiled. "Ohayo Naruto!" She called with a wave.

Sasuke seemed relieved.

The blonde Jounin looked down at the raven haired ANBU. She seemed to tense. "C'mon, I'll introduce you." He said as he walked forward with one prodigy in tow.

Naruto looked at Sasuke on the wooden post. "You look like a scared cat."

"Hn."

"Teme."

Sakura ran up to them. "You're late Naruto." She looked down at Kagome who was by his side. "And who is this?" She asked sweetly.

Kagome tensed.

"This is Kagome Higurashi."

Sakura's smile faded. "Oh… your so…"

"Young." Kagome supplemented.

"You're in ANBU." Sasuke commented.

Kagome looked up at him and nodded. "I've come to train with you."

"Is that so?" Sasuke remarked smoothly.

"You're applying for ANBU in the next few months, ne?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Then if I were you, I would take advantage of training with a Captain." She advised smugly.

A_ very_ tense silence pervaded the atmosphere.

Which of course was broken by an apathetic voice of one Copy Ninja.

Kakashi Hatake walked into the clearing, with one notorious book in hand and the other casually placed in his pocket.

"Ohayo Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura-" One lazy grey eye landed on what seemed to be a midget in his opinion. "And who might you be?"

Kagome stood erect. "Kagome Higurashi." She did a slight bow. "It's an honor to meet the legendary Copy Ninja."

"Legendary huh?" Kakashi drawled. "Nice to meet you too." He then said politely.

"Kakashi-sensei you're late." Sakura pointed out deprecatingly.

"That I am Sakura."

"No excuse?"

"Actually Sakura, I took into account what you said yesterday about the day I am not late is the day –oh how did you put it, ah yes- when pigs fly so today I just happened upon such a creature and what do you know? No wings. So I thought it was my civic duty as your instructor to abide by the laws of nature and let the creature stay grounded."

"That doesn't make any sense." Sakura accused.

"I think that's the best one yet." Naruto added.

"Anyway, how can I help you Higurashi-san?" Kakashi was suddenly before her, crouching down to her level.

"I am here to train with your team." She stated firmly.

His eye crinkled. "Of course you are." He ruffled her short raven locks. "You're a cute Academy student."

She scowled. "I'm not an Academy student."

"Gomen, I mean Genin."

"I'm in ANBU." She snapped.

"AN-BU?"

"Hai, let me show you."

The pipsqueak of an ANBU approached the center of the field the training area, faced the forest surrounding the training ground and formed a single hand seal by placing her left hand over her right fist.

_Inu_

She took a deep breath.

Sasuke head snapped up to the atmosphere above.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

He was silent for a moment.

"There are no birds in the sky." He stated rigidly.

It was then a simple phrase left Kagome's lips, a harsh whisper followed by a sharp wind.

"Fūton: Chimeiteki Sora Oshi!"

A half-moon shaped blade of wind formed in front of her body, it doubled in size before it shot forward at an incredible speed; the blade soundlessly whipped through the forest ahead touching at least dozens of trees but left each and every one unharmed.

It finally stopped and when Kagome released the hand sign-

Ten dozen trees exploded into countless splinters that splayed everywhere.

Naruto gaped, but not at the technique. "Your wind natured."

"I guess." She shrugged.

"That's a very impressive technique." Kakashi complimented.

Kagome perked up. "Arigato goazaimasu Kakashi-sama."

All three of Team 7 eye twitched.

Naruto looked at the splintered trees, it was a decent technique a little unoriginal but no less decent. However it definitely didn't look ANBU level.

"You look unimpressed." Kagome said listlessly.

It was then it struck him.

"You don't channel your chakra."

She nodded. "I've completed mastered my main element; I do not need a tool to focus my chakra."

"Explain the jutsu you just executed." Sasuke suddenly demanded. He seemed perplexed.

"Something confuse you Uchiha?" Kagome asked sharply.

"Your technique is silent and not instantaneous." Sasuke said observantly. He obviously wanted to know why.

"Ah well, the justu is true to its name. It's simply a concentrated blade of my chakra that can expand or contract at will and anything it comes in contact with, will create a small sphere of wind chakra inside of it which expands slowly thus making the object explode under the extreme pressure." She paused. "Of course this would barely make A-Rank if it wasn't completely silent and painless until expansion, making this technique the optimum choice for stealth missions."

"It's intangible, no one can block it." Kakashi commented. "It also helps that it can effectively hit so many targets."

Kagome nodded.

"However…" He began. "The technique seems to require a lot of concentration and even some time to prepare." Kakashi gave her a blank stare. "So in fact, you have a long ways to go and considering you can initiate the jutsu with one hand seal tells me you've been working on this particular technique for at least a few years. Which in reality isn't that impressive." He pointed out coldly. "And you should most likely work on fully mastering your speed before the technique itself."

Unaffected Kagome spoke. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Practice initiating the jutsu then hold it, this will build your control and eventually you will become more efficient and it should increase your speed."

"I'll need targets." She looked at Kakashi. "Lots of them."

Kakashi turned to the blonde. "Naruto."

Naruto nodded then turned to Kagome with a grin. "When in doubt make a clone!" He said as he slugged his arm around her shoulders and walked off to the other side of the training ground.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked weakly.

"Hmm?"

"Wasn't that a little harsh?"

"She's in ANBU." Kakashi simply said.

Sakura crunched her nose; her sensei had a knack at saying nothing but really something at the same time.

"Well it looks like it's you and Sakura again." Kakashi suddenly said flippantly to Sasuke, whose mood seemed to darken even more.

Sakura seemed to perk up at that idea.

"But today Sakura will be the victim."

Sasuke smirked.

Sakura began to run.

"Good thinking Sakura." Kakashi praised.

Sakura seemed to be a good distance away now.

"Now Sasuke, try to hit the pink dot with Chidori." Kakashi instructed.

* * *

"Alright, hour and half break for lunch." Kakashi called.

Sakura collapsed.

Sasuke stood over her and let Chidori dispel from his hand.

When the chirping sound subsided Sakura held up a hand. "Five Chidori."

"You're improving greatly Sasuke." Kakashi commended.

"When will you teach me Raikiri." Sasuke asked tersely as he approached his sensei. "I'll need it when I apply for ANBU."

Kakashi looked at his wrist, seemingly looking at a nonexistent watch. "Unfortunately Sasuke I'm off duty til one thirty so until then -Ja!" And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke glared at the empty where his sensei used to be. "Why doesn't he teach-" He was cut off by a unsympathetic voice.

"Because he doesn't think you're ready." Kagome pointed out as she and Naruto approached them.

"Raikiri is just a more concentrated version of Chidori, six a day is my limit." Sasuke informed her. "I am more than capable of learning the technique."

"Capable means barely, your sensei wants you to effectively learn Raikiri and even master it." Kagome elucidated. "It's obvious he's trying to build your endurance so when the time comes for you to learn the technique, you'll be ready."

Sasuke seemed to analyze what she said, mulling over her words until he came up with an answer. "So I must increase the number of Chidori I am able to execute per day."

"Took you that long to figure it out?" Kagome slapped a hand on her forehead. "No wonder he doesn't think you're ready!" She shook her head. "Look Uchiha, you need to be…" She pinched two fingers together, in a very_ familiar_ way; emphasizing a very small amount. "…a tad bit smarter if you want to join ANBU."

Sasuke sighed and turned to Sakura who was smiling ear to ear at the girl. Within moments Sakura had Kagome already in an iron grip…_literally. _Which was simply a smothering hug to Sakura but to anyone else it was suffocation.

"You're just a very smart, misunderstood, emotionally distressed and cynical little version of me!" Sakura squealed as she squeezed Kagome tighter.

"Get her off of me before she becomes nothing more than a pile of pink hair!" Kagome started out calm but by the end of the sentence her tone grew to a yell. She tried to get out of Sakura's grip but the girl was unnaturally strong.

"Uh Sakura-chan… why don't you let you go of Kagome?" Naruto started but found his teammate was oblivious.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sakura we're getting lunch." And began to walk off.

"Sasuke-kun wait!" Sakura called, then let go of Kagome. "I'm hungry too!" Said pink-haired kunoichi ran after him.

"Naruto! Kagome-chan!" Sakura yelled from a distance, waving at them frantically. "Hurry up!"

Naruto shook his head and began walking.

Kagome stared off at them until she heard a voice. "Are you coming?" Naruto asked tenderly, his blue eyes seemed to soften at her.

She swallowed hard and then nodded.

When she walked beside him, she felt something inside relax and thus making her feel just a tad _lighter._

* * *

"It looks disgusting." She proclaimed looking down at the bowl of steaming ramen.

Naruto gaped and she could swear she saw tears. Sighing she took a sip of the broth.

She stuck out her tongue. "Bleh."

"Have a dumpling!" Sakura held out her tray of food she had picked up along the way. Said dumpling was slathered in syrup.

"Uhh…you can keep it." She pushed the offending plate away.

Looking over Naruto's shoulder, Kagome saw Sasuke eating from a very tidy and delicious bento box. "That looks good." She commented.

Naruto moved into action. "Oi teme." Sasuke looked up. "Itachi is making out with Shisui over there."

Sasuke shrugged and continued eating as if it was expected.

"That's not Shisui! That's a girl!" Sakura exclaimed pointing in some random direction.

Sasuke looked in the direction Sakura was pointing. "Where?" But by the time he looked back his lunch was already gone.

Naruto grinned at Kagome. "Works every time." And then handed her the bento box.

Kagome looked at the assortment of edible materials which consisted of an array of vegetables and rolls, sliced tomatoes and cat-shaped rice balls…

Kagome picked up the neko shape in rice. "I can tell your going to go far in ANBU." She said to Sasuke, but when she was about to eat said rice-ball she seemed to remember something.

"Damn it!" She cursed loudly and tossed the rice-ball and bento box which scattered to the floor.

Sasuke stood. It was one thing to take his lunch but another to throw his mother's hand made rice-balls on the floor!

"I have to go!" She took off, Naruto stood abruptly.

"Where are you going?" He called.

"I gotta feed Buyo!" She called back and then was gone.

"Who's Buyo?" Sakura asked completely confounded by the current events.

Sasuke picked up what was left of his rice-ball that his mother had slaved over. "Probably a cat."

A low rumble could be heard. "C'mon Sasuke, you can't be that hungry." Sakura accused.

"That wasn't me."

It was then a loud crack of lightning was heard. "It's gonna rain." Naruto commented as he looked up into the grey sky.

"Lovely…" Sakura said sarcastically.

* * *

She felt the first fat droplets splatter onto her neck, the cold rain slid down her back giving her chills. She ran anyway.

She ran down the familiar streets of her village, which were a lot less crowded due to the upcoming downpour which was about to happen. She couldn't believe it, she forgot to feed Buyo.

Her poor cat was probably watching the rain fall as it starved to death!

If there was anything she loved, it would be her cat. So if some people thought she was crazy she honestly didn't care.

So she ran…

And the rain began to fall.

Soon it was an utter downpour; she was shivering mercilessly and felt the soles of her feet slip ever so slightly. She applied chakra and ran even faster.

Coming to a bridge she shot forward knowing she was almost home. Rain obscured her vision, she couldn't see in front of her…

She hit something; it was some sort of hard surface.

She stopped and took a step back. She placed a hand over her throbbing nose.

She looked up.

It was a man.

His pale skin and dark eyes melded perfectly with his damp hair, that clung to face. In one hand he held an umbrella of the most vibrant vermillion she had ever seen and in the other, a skewer of dango.

He stared at her intently; she looked at his sleeved arm and saw a hint of the standard ANBU tattoo printed on his left shoulder.

He extended his arm in a civil manner so that she too was under his umbrella, not that it mattered anymore considering she was already drenched. She saw the outline of an uchiwa fan printed onto the umbrella.

She stared at him. He stared at her.

Shadowed blue met haunted black.

Both entranced.

Both finding themselves looking at something so eerily familiar but yet so foreign at the same time.

Time stilled, two souls encountered one another…

It was like looking into a mirror.

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Enter Yui! Also known as Queen B!tch! Which is what I like to call her! Uh yeah don't worry about her, she doesn't come up for a long time! But when she does I guarantee you'll hate her! _(cackles)_

Ah so Sakura is basically comic release in the story. _(shrugs)_ I try to keep her as in character as possible. I actually like Sakura (she's probably the most normal) but most Kagome-lovers hate her so yeah…while I like Sakura but have a disdain for Hinata _(gets pelted by rotting tomatoes)_

Okay so some people hated Chibi Kagome…heartless bastards! _(Chibi dies)_ Nooo!

Anyone reading Naruto manga? Holy ** it's getting good! I'm lame, I know…_(emo corner) _

**Author's Note: **Onto aserious note, how did you like the chapter? Dialogue alright, not too bland? Been struggling with that lately. Descriptive enough? I feel like I could do better, although I did go on a tangent with Kagome's seems to be in character? Remember this is a tad more light hearted considering well… everyone is basically alive!** Constructive criticism people! **I need some criticism!

Oh and I need you guys to help me… Sakura needs to be paired with someone! I need to know...like now! Okay so don't kill me but I'm thinking …Kakashi…(hides) It's better than Sasuke or Neji!

Alright well go on and review!

_Oh and I have a new Poll!_

~Kimi

**Information:**

Fūton: Chimeiteki Sora Oshi- Wind Style: Fatal Sky Pressure

Konbanwa- Good evening

Teme- Bastard

Dobe- Dead last

Baka- Fool (Idiot)


	4. To Drown a Fox and Envy a Monster

**Author's Note:** Hmm...what's new? Um well you should go look at my profile and maybe go read Doku (^-^)...oh and read this chapter!

* * *

_She stared at him. He stared at her. _

_Shadowed blue met haunted black. _

_Both entranced. _

_Both finding themselves looking at something so eerily familiar but yet so foreign at the same time. _

_Time stilled, two souls encountered one another…_

_It was like looking into a mirror. _

XxX

Looking down at this girl, he already knew of her rank.

It all started with her chakra, obviously. He examined the energy that coursed through her entire being. It didn't fit her body; it was mature in a sense as it was so developed and experienced. He could tell just by the signature of it, that there were many jutsu she knew. He felt the presence of two elements; one strengthened and weakened his Fire. Only Jounin had dual elements.

Then he saw how she applied chakra to her feet, without even a second thought and how accurately it was applied. Not a single particle of energy wasted. Flawless chakra control.

He heard nothing when she ran into him; he saw her coming but her movements were soundless. It seemed subconscious for her to move in complete stealth. That was something all ANBU strived for and Captains achieved.

Her anomalous eyes were enamoring, being the murky and shadowed blue that held his gaze, unwavering then examined him. They analyzed him, scanning over his form; collecting information on him just as he had. They held superior intellect.

Of course it wasn't this that proved her rank but the distinguishable foreign chakra that wove itself into her own signature. It was faint, only someone in ANBU would have recognized it.

The standard ANBU tattoo marked every member and it wasn't just for decoration. The tattoo itself gave off a faint signature of its own accord; this made it possible for other ANBU members to recognize each other, given any situation. Such as this one for example.

Kagome rubbed her nose. "This is embarrassing." She muttered, it was rather ridiculous that two ANBU captains ran into each other. Would have it been too much for one of them to sidestep the other?

He said nothing but looked down at her.

Her eyes flittered anxiously about, fleetingly meeting his gaze then continued to look over his form. She shivered and he guessed it wasn't from the rain.

"Here." He said simply, in a silken tone as he handed her the umbrella.

"No use now." She said as she shook her head, short wet locks shook suddenly shaking away tiny droplets. Looking up, it seemed she gotten some water on him.

"Gomen." She said half-heartedly.

He raised a brow at her, almost in an offended manner.

Her nose was running.

"You're bleeding." He said suddenly.

She put a hand to her nose and sure enough blood was leaking out of her nostrils. How hard did she run into him? This was just getting worse.

He gave her a blank stare.

Most girls would be crying in pain, but she didn't even notice. It was unsettling.

Applying a few fingers to the ridge of her nose, she applied pressure and then instantly hissed in pain. "That's not good." She commented methodically.

It was then a cloth was shoved into her face, how he got it she'd never know. Taking said cloth from him, Kagome placed it over her nose, waiting for the blood to clot. "Arigato." She said as she saw the dango stick was currently hanging from his mouth.

"Hn." It would be the first of many.

She then began to walk, but then he simultaneously turned with her, keeping her under the protection of the vermillion umbrella.

"Uhh…you don't have to do this." She said nasally.

Taking his lunch from his mouth, he spoke. "It's really not much of an inconvenience."

"True." She agreed. "Considering you did break my nose…"

He took a bite of dango.

They walked slowly, a measured and calm pace where a comfortable silence existed in between scant sentences.

"Sasuke needs a lunch." She said. So she seemed to know who he was. It really wasn't surprising considering his family and sk- wait. How did she know his brother?

"You're one of Sasuke's acquaintances?" He assumed.

She shrugged. "Kagome Higurashi." She introduced herself and then looked up at him, half her face covered by a bloodstained cloth. "I am training Sasuke for the ANBU examination coming up next month."

"The reason being?"

"Personal." She said, not wanting elaborate.

He continued to walk, realizing how she was able to avoid questions with ease. Standard interrogation counteraction methods.

"How very gracious of you." He deadpanned.

"View it as you will." She stopped in front of an apartment building. Holding out a hand in front of her it seemed to only receive a few droplets. "Looks like the rain stopped."

"Not for long." Itachi commented to himself as a low rumble strengthened his argument.

"Arigato for your help." She said rashly and applied the exact amount of chakra needed to walk up the building.

Kagome's steps were soundless.

Obsidian eyes watched her every movement.

XxX

Watching Buyo gobble down the last few bites of catchow Kagome pulled a black tank over her head and then strapped her soleless boots to her skin tight combat pants. She then picked up a towel and dried her wet hair.

"Gomen Buyo." Kagome spoke to the 'starving' animal as she strapped a dagger laced with a paralyzing agent to her thigh.

The plump feline stopped for a moment and mewed back at her, seemingly forgiving her. Kagome smiled softly back.

After she was dry she walked over to a closet that was adjacent to her bed, opening it she looked into the dark space. Eyes scanning the area until she picked up a small sheathed sword. The white scabbard of her wakizashi was plain as well as the hilt except for a few dark smudges. She mentally shrugged, not really caring if it was bloodstained or not, she strapped it to her back along with a white kunai pouch that held said daggers along with a few other things that normal shinobi usually did not carry.

"Dewa mata Buyo." She petted the cat and then hopped out of the window and began to walk casually down to the building.

The muted roar of blowing trees caught her attention. She looked up to see another set of rainclouds setting in. As she looked back down, a vibrant red dot seemed to mock her.

When she landed she looked up to see Itachi against the vermillion background.

"It's going to rain."

"Wonderful…" She muttered and walked along side the Uchiha.

She glanced up at him. "I'm really inconveniencing you aren't I?"

"I am heading in this direction." He tossed the bare dango stick. It flew out of sight. "Considering my otouto needs a lunch."

"How very thoughtful of you."

"I would like to think so."

She fell silent; the rain began to pick up. Soon fat drops fell lazily onto the ground making the scent of wet earth reach her nostrils. She fished out the bloodied piece of cloth she used earlier; her nose was still slightly bleeding.

"You should get that healed." Itachi suggested dryly.

"Sakura-san will heal it." Kagome said as she covered her nose.

He said nothing.

They walked along side one another for a few more minutes, the rain began to lessen and the clouds began to part. Soon the torrents of cold rain turned to light sun showers.

Kagome felt her back of her neck become wet and sticky; she shifted her shoulder blades in an uncomfortable gesture. The humidity always bothered her.

Itachi seemed to notice.

"I hate it when it rains in the summer." She suddenly started to speak as she wiped away the dampness from her neck. "It makes the air thick and sweet, it's suffocating." She said bitterly.

Again he was silent, but she didn't seem to notice. They continued to walk their unhurried pace but Kagome found it hard to keep her eyes from flickering to her right. It was odd, her eyes seemed to drink in his intimidating image as her mind tried to wrap around the concept that he actually was sparing her the time of day. He seemed to be listening, at least from what she could tell.

_What a strange man._

He was silent but listening, arrogant but cordial, intimidating but yet so human. He was interesting, she'd give him that.

It was then she saw his eyes deviate from their set path of frontward vision. It was barely even for a moment, but she noticed. Her eyes were sharp. However it annoyed her somewhat for it was what they landed on.

Her tattoo.

She sometimes forgot that it was even there at times, but she remembered every time someone glanced at it. It was annoying how there eyes lingered on the mark, as if it wasn't supposed to be there.

"Surprise you?" She asked, placing a hand over the black insignia of ANBU.

His black eyes slid over to her. "I already knew." His tone was darker.

Now she said nothing.

He stopped suddenly causing her to accidently walk a step into the rain; she quickly took a step back and was under the protection of the umbrella once more. His head was turned to his right.

She followed his line of vision to see a produce stand. "Grocery shopping?"

He smirked and shook his head ever so slightly.

They both approached the stand, where an older woman greeted them kindly and Kagome watched in amazement at how polite he was to the woman. He even smiled slightly and thanked her graciously as he obviously overpaid for the – she stopped her thoughts- one tomato?

Picking up the red fruit in one hand as held the umbrella in the other, they continued walking.

She looked up at him, her head fully turned up so it was blatantly obvious.

He looked down at her with the same dark gaze that was so intimidating and yet so fascinating at that the same time. She stared, his eyes were harsh, cold and calculating but she found herself not being able to look away.

The wind picked up suddenly, snapping her out of her daze.

She looked away from him. "They are at the Ichiraku's." Kagome informed him.

"I knew that as well."

"Of course you did." She said to herself as her eyes were fixed on the road ahead; they were approaching the Ramen stand now.

She suddenly looked up. "Pretty." Kagome commented wryly as a rainbow formed overhead which was accented by breaks in the clouds, in which the sun had filtered through, creating golden beams.

She gave Itachi a sideways glance to see his eyes lighten as he gazed at the multihued display, the more cynical side of her told her it was from the sun. While another part, a very small and repressed part; _knew_ he agreed soundlessly.

She smiled then wiped her nose; she really needed to get it healed.

As the pair approached Ichiraku's Ramen, Itachi stopped and turned to her.

"I must be going." He suddenly said.

"…alright." She really didn't want him to go. "Arigato Uchiha-san." But she did.

He nodded to her and then handed her the umbrella, silently telling her it was going to rain again and then suddenly threw the tomato directly at Sasuke's head.

By the time Sasuke's head snapped to look back and Kagome had looked up, Itachi was already gone.

Sasuke looked down at the ground, to see a slightly bruised tomato and then his eyes landed on Kagome, who was now in different clothes, clutching a bloodied cloth to her nose and holding a brilliant red umbrella with his clan symbol emblazoned onto it.

Sakura looked back to see what Sasuke was staring at so intently on but all she saw was blood…

"Kagome-chan!" She gasped. "You're bleeding!" She rushed over to said girl and picked her up like a ragdoll. She sat Kagome on a stool next to her and instantly Sakura's hands began to glow a soft emerald hue.

Sakura was healing with one hand and holding the bloodied cloth in the other, inspecting it. Kagome sighed, it looked worse than it actually was.

"How did you break your nose, Kagome-chan?" Sakura said as she looked at the bloodstained cloth.

Sasuke was staring at the tomato in his hand.

"I don't know."

"You have a concussion!" Sakura exclaimed while Sasuke's head snapped up.

Kagome's eyes landed on an empty stool. "Where is Uzumaki?"

"He went looking for you." Sasuke said pointedly and then took a bite of his tomato.

Kagome scrunched her nose at the Uchiha's eating habits. "Why?"

"He was worried Kagome-chan." Sakura added earnestly as the glow from her hands faded. "He didn't want you to get caught in the rain." Sakura's eyes landed on the flaming red umbrella which Kagome still had in her hands. "Where did you get that anyway?"

Kagome shrugged as she closed said umbrella and set it down.

It was suddenly at that moment that a certain loudmouthed ninja made his appearance.

"Oi!" It was an unmistakable yell from behind them. "There you are!" Naruto bellowed.

Naruto was currently drenched, pointing an accusing finger at Kagome who bore an expression of complete innocence.

"Nani?" She looked at him. "I didn't ask for you to look for me." She said listlessly.

Naruto growled in frustration.

"Where did you go to look for Kagome-chan anyways?" Sakura asked as she wiped away the last bits of red from Kagome's face.

"I went to her apartment." He said, as if he was stating the obvious.

"Dobe." Sasuke insulted. "Then how did you miss her?"

"You both were going in the same direction." Sakura pointed out. "And even so you could've followed her chakra signature."

Naruto began to sulk.

"It's impossible to track me; I usually mask my chakra and move in stealth." Kagome suddenly said.

Sasuke's eyes were locked on her. "Why?"

Kagome gave a Sasuke a sideway glance. "No reason." Murky blue eyes became shadowed. "It's simply subconscious."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted then took another bite of tomato.

Naruto walked up to Kagome and ruffled her damp hair. "At least you're alright." He said sincerely with a large grin plastered on his face.

Kagome ducked her head away from him with a cute scowl on her young face.

Naruto simply grinned.

Kagome sneezed violently.

Naruto looked down at the front of his flak jacket.

"Ugh!" His face contorted in a disgusted fashion. "So not cool!"

XxX

Tsunade always hated rainy days…

They always brought back memories that are simply meant to remain repressed and hopefully forgotten. However today she found herself thinking about the past, not intentionally; but instead in unintentional jolts of images that would suddenly come into mind. It was days like these that wore her down and made her feel her age.

At least painful memories had an upside…

She stamped another document.

She got more work done.

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune spoke so delicately to her Hokage, like she was about to break.

Tsunade looked up at Shizune. "Hmm?" It was the most audible reply she could give.

"Kakashi Hatake is outside." Shizune informed. "He wishes to speak with you."

"About?" Tsunade with quite a bit more vigor and tersely stamped another document and read the next.

"Kagome Higurashi."

The Godaime set down the parchment and sighed. "I knew this would happen." She said to herself. "Send him in." Tsunade ordered .

Shizune nodded and left her Hokage's office to fetch the Copy-nin.

Moments passed until a knock was heard.

"Come in." Tsunade snapped knowing all to well that this conversation was not going to be pleasant.

Kakashi lazily strolled into the Hokage's office with hands stuffed into his pockets. The infamous Copy-nin stood before the Godaime Hokage.

"What is this about Kakashi?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well Hokage-sama, I was having a relatively peaceful morning, the birds were chirping and the sun was bright. I greeted my little protégées who were all too eager to learn from their sensei; that is…" He paused then. "…until I found a little ANBU brat on my training grounds." Kakashi's grey eye locked with two deep amber ones. "And people wonder why I hate mornings."

"What's the problem?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It seems this young girl has weaseled her way into my team."

Tsunade sighed heavily. "Again." She stressed. "What's the problem?"

"Well…I have one medic-nin who is lacking female companionship, a loudmouthed Jounin who wants everyone to be his friend no matter how mentally or emotionally unstable they are and a competition obsessed Uchiha who sees the world as his rival."

"It seems like you finally found the missing piece to your team then." Tsunade pointed out.

"Maybe." Kakashi conceded slightly. "Though the girl is in ANBU." Kakashi indicated. "And I have no problem extending my coveted teachings and wisdom to this young girl as it would benefit both parties; but before I allow her around my team I want to know a few things."

"Meaning…" Tsunade began. "You're pulling rank."

Kakashi nodded. "I would like to request classified information on Kagome Higurashi."

She picked up a folder and lethargically waved it. "Lucky you, I have the file right here."

"What a coincidence." Kakashi commented.

Tsunade smirked, licked her forefinger and turned a few pages of the open folder. "Anything specific you would like to know?"

"She said she completely mastered her wind element, I was unaware we had another wind user besides Asuma and Naruto."

The Godaime nodded. "Kagome prefers people not to know much of her skills. She is also close to mastering her water element as well." Tsunade looked through the file some more.

"To be honest Hokage-sama, I do not think she is ANBU level." Kakashi admitted. "She has a very advanced wind technique but it's no S-class and mastering an element is something many Jounin have already done."

Tsunade shook her head with a confident smirk. "Do you really want to know her true purpose in ANBU?"

Kakashi gave her a blank stare.

"Reconnaissance." Tsunade stated plainly. "She has no team because any shinobi would slow her down, her intelligence is vital for determining any enemy's weaknesses, positions, skills, plans and etcetera. She is by far one of the best we have ever encountered." Tsunade continued. "Not only that but she has taken every one of her justu and manipulated it so that it would benefit her while on such stealth missions." She sighed. "Of course this is impressive but you expected more."

Kakashi nodded.

"Well Kakashi would it surprise you if she was primarily Genjutsu based?"

Said Copy-nin looked at the Sannin. "It would."

"Most Genjustu users are never nearly as advanced in their other skills as Kagome, her Taijutsu is B-Class to A-Class, her Ninjustu is A-Class to S-Class but her Genjutsu is unranked."

"How many S-Class Genjutsu does she know?"

"Quite a few… if I remember correctly." Tsunade turned another page. "Kurenai has also trained with her a few times but she simply can not teach her anything new." Amber eyes scanned over a page.

"Hokage-sama?" Tsunade looked up. "She's on mandatory leave-"

"Probation." Tsunade corrected.

Kakashi continued. "May I ask why?"

Tsunade buried her head into the stack of papers and groaned. She knew he would have asked this question, she was able not tell Naruto but Kakashi had the rank and reason behind him to know. "Do you really need an answer?" He heard a muffled reply.

"If she is unstable then I won't allow my team-"

"Will you listen!" Tsunade snapped then sighed heavily. "Kagome isn't some disease that will infect your team."

"Hokage-sama, I need to know what I am dealing with." Kakashi stressed.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair as she laced her fingers together. "I know…believe me I know…" Her eyes grew weary. "It's just hard to admit that I am responsible for messing up this girl's life."

"By doing what?"

Tsunade's face grew grim and her tone stern. "Kakashi…" She began. "…some people are just never meant for combat, there is something in them that cannot handle it. Something that they either express or suppress." Tsunade paused. "Kagome is the latter of the two, though she will never admit it. Her entire career as a shinobi had been based on reconnaissance so when she was accepted into ANBU she was put under such a category considering her track record."

"She never killed anyone." Kakashi said, knowing intelligence gathering usually required very little combat especially if you were good at it.

Tsunade nodded. "We never really considered it, an ANBU captain having to deal with taking another's life." Her tone grew lighter as if the very concept was inconceivable. "Most are so jaded to it by the time they reach the rank it's usually no problem."

"She couldn't handle it then."

Tsunade nodded. "Being so young and put into such adult situations…" She shuddered. "I can't imagine."

"But why was she sent on such a mission?"

"Because we were short on shinobi and I wasn't aware, she fell through the cracks Kakashi." The Godaime explained. "We usually don't send scouts on assassination missions unless we are desperate."

"But _you_ did."

"I had no choice."

"And what happened?"

"She completed the mission…"

"With blood on her hands." Kakashi added solemnly.

Tsunade seemed to wince at his choice of words.

"What happened after?"

Tsunade remained silent. "Kagome became… unstable. She didn't sleep, didn't eat, didn't train, didn't speak…she simply gave up."

"Then she was put on probation."

Tsunade shook her head solemnly. "Iie, we offered her medication such as antidepressants to at least help her sleep but Shikaku Nara told us that she would take no drugs."

"You did nothing?"

"Of course not." Tsunade bit out. "We put her on Kage's team but on their first mission she went AWOL."

Kakashi remained silent knowing no ANBU goes absent without official leave for any reason, it's part of their training to never to abandon. It was such an inconceivable notion-

"Kage's team found her days later in the midst of a battle between a handful of rogue-nin, the report states that although she could have easily disposed of them she instead let them attack her…" Tsunade eyes grew weary. "By the time Kage's team had eradicated them, Kagome had suffered serious wounds." She paused. "and when she had arrived, her condition was critical, everything in her body was shutting down due to the blood loss and poisoning. She should have died…"

"She wanted to die."

Tsunade closed her eyes. "Everything was planned, the mission, the breakaway, the fight and the outcome. She gave up and when she was put on a team she felt her last sense of worth disappear."

Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair. "How did she survive?"

Tsunade opened her eyes. "Somehow her body neutralized the poison, repaired her organs and eventually stabilized."

"You think her body is able to repair itself subconsciously." Kakashi supplemented. "Maybe a kekkei genkai."

"Maybe." Tsunade contemplated. "She should have died though…everything was so planned out." Her eyes darkened. "What concerns me though is her age, she is so young and to have already so many problems…I just don't know what else to do."

"Did Itachi Uchiha ever have such psychological problems?"

"Iie." Tsunade shook her head. "Itachi handled being a shinobi almost too well…just like you did."

Kakashi stiffened.

Tsunade suddenly spoke. "What vexes me is that she is able to master so many Ninjutsu and Genjutsu in such short periods of time as well as survive such fatal wounds." Tsunade paused. "Whatever her heritage is, its one of strongest I have ever seen."

"She has no family then."

"Not that we know of...Shikaku Nara found her ten years ago."

"I already read the report."

"I see." Tsunade sat straighter ready to hear the inevitable question.

"Did you ever test the blood you found on her?"

Tsunade nodded rigidly.

"And?"

Closing her eyes Tsunade stood and looked out into the storming sky. "It tested positive for a maternal match and from the amount found her… it is… possible that the wounds were fatal."

"The report said it covered the front of her body."

"What are you implying Kakashi?" Tsunade said calmly.

"That it's highly possible that she was responsible for it."

Tsunade remained quiet.

"Hokage-sama, from what it looks like. She came from a very powerful family. There might be a reason as to why we haven't heard of any missing royalty or clan members." The Godaime seemed to stiffen. "Why would we have not heard anything?" Kakashi paused. "Do you think it is possible, keeping in mind of how skilled she is; that something happened and that her family simply deserted her?"

The Hokage turned to Kakashi. "You're implying they had something to fear." When Kakashi didn't answer she continued. "Then why not kill her when she was young?"

It was the words he spoke next that sent a chill down her spine.

"Maybe they couldn't."

XxX

"He definitely just ditched us." Naruto mumbled.

"Hn."

"Kakashi-sensei never does this Kagome-chan!" Sakura tried to convince said ANBU who was currently sitting on top of Naruto's shoulders, legs dangling; with umbrella in hand keeping them both safe from the sprinkle of water that was currently coming down on their other two teammates. "He's just late."

"Uh huh." Kagome looked at Sakura with an all knowing expression.

"Well you know what that means…" Naruto began with a devious grin.

Sasuke smirked.

Sakura cringed. "Uh guys…maybe we shouldn't." She pointed to the sky. "It's raining."

"So?" Naruto said innocently. "A little rain never hurt anyone and neither does a little spar." He tugged on one of Kagome legs. "Right Kagome?"

"Right." She drawled as she propped an elbow on his head. "So we spar now?"

Sakura groaned. "Just try not to break too many bones."

Naruto beamed. "We'll try." And began to walk when Sakura stopped him.

"What are you doing?"

He turned around. "Nani?"

"You can't spar with Kagome-chan on your shoulders!" She chastised as she walked over to Naruto. "She'll get hurt."

Kagome narrowed her eyes.

Sakura began to reach for her when Naruto suddenly stepped away.

"What are you doing?" Sakura snapped. "Put her down."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Baka. Put me down." She bit out.

Naruto stood for a moment then conceded. "Gomen." Then slowly lifted her off.

Kagome looked up to Naruto who smiled back down at her then yelled. _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Instantly another Naruto picked her, propped her on his shoulders and walked over to the side of the training field.

The clone walked away with a scowling Kagome on its shoulders. "I love how you all think I can't walk." She said just loud enough for all of them to hear.

Sakura simply just shook her and joined the clone and Kagome under the protection of the near by trees.

The two girls and clone simply stood as they watched the two Jounin, the soft pitter-patter of the rain landing in the small forest behind them was all they could hear at that moment.

"Sakura-san." Kagome said as she watched Naruto and Sasuke square off. "Does he realize that he'll only have half of his chakra now?"

Sakura looked up at Kagome. "Naruto learned how to manipulate chakra between his shadow clones along time ago."

The shadow clone chuckled, startling Kagome. "Baka." She muttered as she continued to watch the match.

"Just Taijutsu?" Naruto said to Sasuke.

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes.

Naruto smirked. "Good." And then flickered out of sight.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke's eyes activated with the Sharingan and then opened. He got into stance and waited.

"_Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _And Sasuke found himself surrounded.

The clones lunged, Sasuke began to strike. Each one that charged Sasuke found themselves dissipating into smoke as the Uchiha hit one after the other with various kicks and punches.

This went on for several minutes until Sasuke got fed up, added chakra to his feet and escaped the oncoming swarm of clones.

Running across the field Sasuke hooked five kunai through each finger and tossed them all in ground behind him, exploding the earth and hitting the oncoming clones, leaving nothing but smoke. From the multiple explosions that came from the weapons, it didn't take a genius to figure that there were exploding tags attached to them.

Leaving only a handful of Narutos left, which quickly flickered out of sight; Sasuke waited.

Kagome watched with an uninterested expression as the spar took place, but even as jaded as she was to such battles her eyes never missed a single movement of the two combatants.

Her shadowed eyes narrowed at Naruto, his movements were brash and aggressive, something she found annoying. However she noticed how he never second guessed, his attacks never faltered as he struck Sasuke again, barely grazing his jaw. His stance was strong and ever progressing, always moving forward and never stepping back; there was certainty in his fighting style showing how he was confident not only in his moves but in himself.

Her gaze moved up, watching his eyes. They were no longer the wide-eyed and inviting ocean blue that they once were, but narrowed slits that shined with a devious and calculating light. Completely immersed in the fight, his eyes seemed colder and more aware. It was like the ocean had frozen over.

Then Kagome watched the Uchiha, his stance compared to Naruto's could easily be mistaken as defensive, but that was not the case. No, Sasuke she concluded held the calculating finesse that Naruto seemed to have but he took it to a whole new level. Sasuke excelled in the area, he watched each move with an almost obsessive comportment, even with his Sharingan basically feeding him the information on what Naruto was going to do next, Sasuke still took in every move eagerly, absorbed it and reacted almost instantaneously.

Sasuke's moves were paced but incisive, his limbs didn't move unless he intended to use them, his eyes didn't deviate from Naruto but he was aware of his surroundings and his face was emotionless. Most shinobi would have conceded that Sasuke was perfection but Kagome maintained the notion in her mind that perfection was only achieved when skills were subconscious and thus done automatically. Sasuke was in fact was the complete and utter opposite of perfection because of one thing…

"He thinks too much." Kagome pointed out.

Sakura looked up, her bright eyes looking over the girl. "You mean Sasuke?"

Kagome shot Sakura a blank look.

The Chuunin smiled awkwardly. "It was more of a statement than a question."

The ANBU Captain wasn't buying it. "Stop equivocating."

Sakura stuck out her tongue. "Bleh." Then snubbed her nose.

"You have no idea what I just said do you?"

"Bleh."

"Put that tongue back in your mouth before I cut it off." She said sharply.

Sakura blanched.

Kagome ignored the giggle that came from the medic-nin and turned back to the battle.

Naruto brought out his own set of kunai, but only two and Kagome didn't miss how they were a darker shade then the conventional. Holding one in each hand, he dodged a kick from Sasuke and seemingly gripped each tighter. Kagome watched as the kunai soon took on a soft blue glow and she heard the distinctive hum of chakra.

"He has kunai that can channel wind chakra." Kagome deduced.

"Mhm." Sakura spoke. "Naruto has learned to channel his element through various weapons, no matter the metal."

Kagome unsheathed her wakizashi slowly and held it out; instantaneously the same effect took place over the blade, except it was much more extensive and it eventually formed a long curved blade. "And they wonder why I don't use a katana."

Sakura shook her head. "Its all fun and games until someone loses a limb."

"Or dies." Kagome supplemented.

Sakura sighed. "Hai…Well if Sasuke gets too bloody Mikoto-san will throw a fit." She looked up to Kagome who was once sheathing her blade. "She doesn't like blood at the dinner table."

"His mother I presume."

"Mhm."

"How long have you been a team?"

Sakura smiled and held up three fingers. "Three years."

Kagome nodded. "That's longer than most."

"We've all tried very hard to keep together."

Kagome looked down at Sakura, her lips were set in a firm line and her eyes grew a bit distant. "How so?" She pressed lightly.

Sakura looked up and sighed lightly. "It's all very complicated…"

"I'm sure I can follow." Kagome drawled.

"Well a few years back we were anything but a team." Sakura looked at Naruto and Sasuke who were starting to get a bit cut up now. "I liked Sasuke but hated Naruto, who hated Sasuke but liked me but I hated him while Sasuke hated Naruto and I."

"You still like Sasuke." She felt childish because of the words alone.

Sakura eyes snapped up to Kagome. "I never_ liked_ Sasuke, I loved him."

She didn't say anything.

Sakura continued. "But as time progressed, we slowly got along and soon we found that we couldn't bear to be separated." She smiled to herself. "But we had a few hurtles along the way, especially with Sasuke."

"His Clan." Kagome concluded.

"Ahh they were a problem at first because they thought we would slow down Sasuke but we got stronger because of it. Naruto trained with Jiraiya-san while I trained with Tsunade-shishou. But once the Clan deemed us acceptable to be associated with their second heir then we found Sasuke got better as well." Sakura's voice got a bit quieter. "The Clan has always put pressure on Sasuke so when they approved of us I saw him open up a little more and trust us. Soon we were able to actually be like a team."

"So the Clan had to approve of you."

Sakura nodded.

"Even with your infatuation, they still approved of you?"

Sakura stiffened and slowly shook her head. "I found that Sasuke and I will never move beyond that of teammates." She smiled. "But back then I was young and stubborn, so my infatuation changed…"

"Itachi Uchiha." Kagome drawled and watched as Sakura winced at her choice of words.

"Mhm." Sakura twiddled her thumbs. "But that all changed once I found out he was betrothed."

Kagome felt herself stiffen. "To who?" It came out before she could stop it.

Sakura looked up, her eyes looking over Kagome. "Curious aren't you?"

Kagome locked eyes with Sakura, gazing into them; she saw the girl was testing her.

"Well obviously an Uchiha, it's been arranged since they were born." Sakura rolled her eyes, showing that she thought the whole situation was rather ridiculous and archaic. "Personally… I feel bad for him."

Sakura was testing her patience.

"I mean who would want to marry Yui Uchiha?"

XxX

"Sasuke, you had to break his jaw didn't you?" Sakura chastised as her hands glowed over Naruto's jowl. His mouth was shut in a stern line while his lips were swollen and split; on his chin were purple and green hues that clouded over the skin.

Kagome shook her head at the scowling Naruto who was currently glaring at Sasuke.

Sasuke was simply lying on the damp grass, eyes closed and arms crossed behind his head for support; not caring about Naruto. Kagome approached him and knelt down. Sasuke knew she was there, he didn't hear her steps but he_ felt_ her eyes on him.

She looked at the gash Naruto had given him, it grazed the cheek then extended to the scalp making his black hair look wet and muddied. Blood trickled down his cheek and neck; it looked more gruesome than it actually was.

Sasuke then felt a deft prods at his facial wound. He opened his eyes to see the girl's eyes fixated on him, her shadowed eyes would have been obscured by her bangs but from this angle he got a good view of her face.

It was a much softer than he imagined, her cheeks were plump and slightly reddened while her pert nose sat perfectly above pink lips and below half lidded eyes. It was a young face, but it didn't fit her age. She blinked and he watched as thick lashes kissed her cheeks.

He narrowed his eyes when he felt another prod at the cut. She pulled her hand away and stared as a droplet of red slid down her finger. Her eyes suddenly met his.

"What are you staring at?"

Her voice caught him by surprise.

Ignoring his stare, she flicked the blood off of her finger and placed a hand over his wound.

Out of the corner of his vision he saw a soft green glow and soon felt the tingling sensation of healing chakra.

Her anomalous blue eyes met his again and she saw the question in his eyes. "I only know the basics of Medical Ninjustsu." She said as he felt his skin turn numb as it slowly knitted itself back together.

"Then why didn't you heal your nose earlier?"

"Cartilage, bone and nasal passages are much more difficult to heal than skin and blood vessels." She informed him as the glow faded from her hands; she stood and was looking down on him.

Sasuke sat up and brought a hand to cheek, it was wet and a bit crusty from the bits coagulated blood that still remained but overall the skin was sealed.

"Alright Sasuke, your turn!" Sakura called as she stood over Naruto who was flexing and rubbing his jaw.

Sasuke began to rub the healed skin, trying to get rid of the blood.

"Ah! Don't do that!" Sakura ran over to him. "You'll make it worse!"

"It's already healed Sakura-san." Kagome said as she brushed off her pant legs.

"Oh…Well that's handy." Sakura said cheerily. "Saves chakra."

Sasuke stood and soon found that he was towering over Kagome who was looking at him with a serious gaze.

"You need a weapon." She opined. "If you did, you would have been able to defend yourself more adequately."

Rubbing away the last bits of blood he spoke. "Then what do you suggest?"

"A katana."

"Iie."

"You need a weapon." She stressed again. "A katana fits your fighting style and you can eventually channel Chidori through it."

"I don't need it." And he was gone.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the empty space of grass where the Uchiha had once been.

Sakura sighed. "Gomen Kagome-chan but Sasuke has always been a little sensitive about_ that_…"

Kagome turned around to face an apologetic Sakura and an annoyed Naruto.

"She means Itachi." Naruto supplied. "Itachi uses a katana so Teme doesn't want to." Naruto ran his fingers through his damp hair. "And they call me immature."

Sakura looked up to the grey sky. "We have a few more hours of training still…"

"Good." Kagome looked at Naruto. "We're sparing."

"We are?"

She nodded tersely. "Your swordsmanship needs work." She unsheathed her wakizashi swiftly and twirled it around her fingers in sharp circles. "And I'm annoyed." The blade hummed to life with chakra as it extended.

"Oi!" Naruto started to back away. "Don't take this out on me."

Sakura giggled.

"Shit!"

XxX

"You're getting sloppy." Another rhythmic strike of a chakra blade was caught between two kunai. "You're losing focus, that is why your stance-" Naruto found himself on his back. "…is getting weak."

He gritted his teeth.

Sighing Kagome stood over him. "Get up."

He stood.

Gripping the hilt of her chakra enhanced blade she pivoted on her left foot making her strike fluid and clean as Naruto barely dodged it.

"Good." She commended and dropped down to sweep his legs out from under him with a swift kick. "But you need to be ready for other moves as well."

Naruto stood again, gripping his blades tighter as he stood ready.

Kagome sighed.

There was a distinct ring that clamored through the clearing as Naruto's kunai went flying in air leaving him weaponless. Then a thud as they landed in the damp earth.

"Just because you hold them tight doesn't mean I can't disarm you." Kagome then struck at him so fast that Naruto couldn't even blink. His eyes looked down to see a chakra blade at his neck. "Your weapon has no loyalty; it is simply a tool of the wielder. It can turn against you the moment it changes hands." Naruto felt pressure on his neck. "Don't depend on it." He felt a warm droplet run down his damp skin.

He nodded despite the fact that there was a blade pushing into his flesh.

XxX

Sakura leaned against a miscellaneous oak. Its rough bark grazed her exposed skin and she knew it wasn't the best choice of sitting areas. Sighing she watched Kagome dodge another of Naruto's strikes with relative ease. Naruto seemed like an awkward oaf next to the small and nimble ANBU captain.

Sakura smiled slightly. But despite the fact, Naruto was improving, she could see he put more thought into his steps and was more aware of his surroundings, even if it was minute. Naruto was still improving.

"Sasuke." She called lightly. "Stop brooding."

There was no reply but she knew he was in the very same tree, watching the instructive spar.

"You could learn from her." She chimed.

It was then she heard a soft rustle of leaves, letting her know he was right above her.

"Why did Naruto bring her here?" He was suddenly sitting beside her.

Sakura twirled a pink strand of cropped hair and shrugged. "I have my theories." She glanced to her side. "One is obvious."

Sasuke's face remained impassive.

"Naruto brought her train with you." She flicked elbowed him. "You could learn from her." She repeated.

"I could." Sasuke surprisingly conceded.

Sakura turned to him. "What are you thinking Sasuke?" She said pointedly.

"I still want to know why Naruto brought her here." He smirked. "And she has a connection to Itachi somehow." His eyes landed on the vibrantly red umbrella laying on the ground.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's all about rivalry."

"If I can surpass her, I can surpass him." He said in a steady tone. "You'll see."

"You never learn."

XxX

"We're done." Kagome said suddenly as she steadied her blade.

Naruto was in midstride with a punch but stopped, ending up stumbling into wet grass and mud. "Ack!"

Kagome looked at the muddied mess of orange and limbs. "Baka."

He looked up to her with a goofy grin on his face.

Her frown deepened.

"Ah Gome-chan! Are we all done for the day?" Sakura was in front of her with a beaming smile.

She nodded tersely as her eyes landed on the approaching Uchiha.

"Whew" Sakura wiped her forehead. "Today was a good day, got a real workout."

"You didn't do anything." Sasuke commented as he looked down at the collapsed Naruto.

"Ah exercise is in the eye of the beholder." Sakura said.

"That doesn't make any sense." Naruto accused as he stood.

Kagome began to walk away from the trio as she stated. "If that's the case then so is intelligence."

XxX

"Alright I give up." Naruto said to the girl who was on his shoulders.

Kagome sighed. "It isn't that hard…"

"Say it again then." Naruto urged as walked through the thinning crowds of Konoha who were turning in for the night.

They received a few side glances from a few individuals, especially shinobi; however the pair were simply in their own world and although Kagome was aware of her surroundings she felt no need to delve into the possible thought process of the miscellaneous bystanders.

Resting her elbow on Naruto's head, Kagome began. "There is a farmer with a bag of rice, a goose and a fox. The farmer needs to cross a river in order to reach his village." She drawls for the second time. "But he can only cross with one at a time, so which would he cross with first?"

"The fox."

She brought her elbow down on his head. "Baka. The goose would eat the rice."

"Then the rice." He said as he felt a headache coming on, if he guessed anymore he would end up with permanent brain damage.

He felt another blow to the head. "The fox would eat the goose."

"I give up."

"Its simple… Bring the goose over first, then bring the fox over but take the goose back leaving the fox alone. Then take the rice leaving the goose alone, and then cross back alone to retrieve the goose." Rolling her eyes. "It took Nara seven seconds to figure."

"Well he's a genius."

"Hn." She grunted, obviously showing that she beat Shikamaru's time.

"You're obnoxious." Naruto pointed out seemingly translating the all too familiar monosyllabic response.

"You don't even know me."

"I know enough."

"And how's that?" She asked dryly.

"Because we're friends now." He stated with a grin and he felt her stiffen as soon as the sentence began.

She didn't say anything.

"Ahh we're here." Naruto came to a stop in front of the apartment building. His head turned up to look up at the girl on his shoulders. "Hold on." And he gripped her legs tight as he scaled the building with astonishing speed.

Kagome found her world a blur which would have been disorienting but she found herself not caring at the moment, she trusted the blonde…to an extent.

Her vision cleared and they were in her apartment.

"You sure you don't want any dinner?" Naruto asked as he set her down on the floor. "Sakura and Teme are at Ichiraku's by now."

She closed her_ new_ umbrella and set it against the wall by her window. "I'm fine." Her voice seemed…_ younger_ at that very moment.

Naruto sat down on her bed. "Then I guess I'll stay here then."

Her eyes flickered over to him. "Why?" Her voice sounded suspicious and cold now.

"Oi!" He threw up his hands. "Don't attack me." He threw her a genuine smile. "You just haven't eaten anything really today."

"I'm not hungry."

"Well you need to eat."

"Alright then…I'll eat." She said as she was suddenly in front of him. "When you leave."

He stood and slowly backed away, like he was being cornered. "Okay then…" He jumped onto the window sill. "I guess I'll leave." His eyes seemed to lack their luster. "I'll see ya tomorrow then Kagome-chan!" And before she could reprimand him for the honorific-he was gone.

She walked away from the space where he used to be to the small eating area of her apartment.

Red fruit seemed to mock her.

Not wanting to go back on her word she picked up the apple and walked over to her windowsill.

As she sat on the ledge, she looked down on her village; the dying sun was the same vibrant red that seemed to color her life now. She sighed finding she like the color for some odd reason.

_Too bad it's the color of blood__. _She thought achingly.

Her stomach grumbled.

She rolled her eyes knowing that the blonde was right.

She took a bite of the red fruit and watched as the blood red sun disappeared behind the horizon, seemingly showing her that this bloodstained chapter of her life was over and that the dawn could hold anything…

All because of a stupid loudmouthed knuckleheaded idiot who called himself her friend…

"Baka."

XxX

She was tired, she knew that much.

Even with such an exhausting day she didn't dare sleep, she still sat at the same window sill in the dead of night. The vibrant red apple now reduced to a browning apple core now lay somewhere in the streets of Konoha. She'd been here hours now.

Her eyes landed on clock on her nightstand. Three digits showed her the time: _5:44 _

She watched as the four changed to a five and at that very moment she felt a semi-suppressed chakra signature. Her eyes looked down.

What they landed on surprised her a little.

"Uchiha-san." She said to herself and grabbed the umbrella by her window as she was already walking down the building before she could think.

Itachi Uchiha looked up to see a girl standing on the wall of a building against the dark starlit sky.

"Higurashi-san." He greeted, recalling her from earlier.

She jumped down and was standing beside him.

"You're out late." She commented but then her eyes glanced over his hands, his long fingers were covered in what seemed like dry paint. She looked at his eyes, they seemed greyer and the hollowness beneath them seemed more prominent.

She handed the umbrella he had given to her earlier.

His long fingers curled around the umbrella and she watched as the dried blood cracked as he did so. She realized it was also under his fingernails.

He smiled politely, but it was empty; his mind was somewhere else. "Arigato." He said softly as he took it.

They stared at each other. He didn't walk away, but his eyes simply lay on her. A small smile lay on his lips.

"Why aren't you in bed?" He asked softly.

She stared at him and then averted her eyes, then began to walk in the direction he was going.

It was the first time she purposely broke his gaze.

She soon found herself walking side by side next to Itachi Uchiha.

"I'm not tired."A few moments passed and she spoke. "And I don't sleep well."

"Neither do I."

She looked up at him. "Why do you have blood on your hands?"

Obsidian orbs flittered over to her. "A group of rogue-nin were sighted five kilometers away from Konoha in the northeastern quadrant."

"How did they get past our borders?" She asked systematically.

"That is why one of them is still alive."

"And with Ibiki-san." She supplemented.

"Hai."

It was impressive, to be able to track, locate, engage and eliminate the enemy and thus capture one for interrogation all within a matter of hours.

She felt a chill run up her spine, he was dangerous.

They walked silently, the sounds of the night being the only noise.

She stroked her pale hands and glanced over to his bloodstained ones, but in her opinion she didn't see any difference.

"Do you like riddles?" She asked suddenly trying to ignore the scent of old blood that came off of him.

"From time to time."

She sighed. "There is a farmer with a bag of rice, a goose and a fox. The farmer needs to cross a river in order to reach his village to sell his goose and rice." She looked up to him and saw that his eyes were focused on her. "However he can only cross with one at a time. Which one?"

"What are the stipulations?"

"The fox will eat the goose if left alone as the goose would do the same to the rice."

A few moments passed before he spoke.

"Well it's simple…" He began. "Drown the fox."

She scrunched her nose. He knew the right answer but chose a different route. It was then she realized that Itachi Uchiha thought differently than other people. "That's not the preferable answer."

"There is no exact answer when it comes to riddles." Itachi said as his eyes landed on her once more. "Even if the right answer is right in front of you, sometimes you must choose a different path."

She had a feeling he wasn't talking about riddles anymore. "Then why did you choose that path."

He was silent for a moment. "Because the fox serves no purpose to the farmer and thus would be better off dead."

"I see…" She seemed to mull over it. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a very morbid outlook on life, Uchiha-san."

He smirked and his eyes gleamed with an amused light. "Iie…But I am sure many have thought it." He paused. "Among other things as well." He then stopped and Kagome watched as Itachi fished out a black thermos.

He held it out to her and she took it warily as she unscrewed the cap. Thick vapor pervaded her vision as a light sweet scent reached her nose. "Tea?"

He smiled lightly. "It's not poisoned."

She took a sip and swallowed, the saccharine liquid slid down her throat with ease. "It's sweet."

They continued walking as she sipped her tea, Kagome then found herself wondering when he would snap at her for wasting his time or when he would have a mental breakdown from the guilt that would accompany anyone after massacring a group of shinobi and then torturing another.

But no, he was Itachi Uchiha and he would instead-

"I hope the rain did not inconvenience your training."

-comment on the weather.

It was then he heard her laugh bitterly. "I admire you..." She said suddenly.

His dark eyes flickered to her small figure and narrowed slightly.

"You comment on the weather and offer tea with bloodstained hands…" She shook her head. "You act as if nothing has happened; do you not feel guilt from what you did hours ago? Does it not haunt you?"

He said nothing.

"I also envy you…" She sighed. "…because you do not carry this burden. Guilt is a weakness and I hope that one day…" She looked up at him. _I will be free of it._ "...nevermind."

He could read her eyes and what he saw-was unsettling.

She smiled a poignant smile as she turned away from him and began to walk away…

It was then she felt something grasp her hand sharply, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.

She looked back.

He was staring at her, with the most unreadable expression. His eyes were set intently on her; with a cold fury they burned her. For them to be able to change color seemed impossible at that moment for they were so dark.

His voice was low and strained, as he seemed to be holding back a sort of anger that wasn't directed at her.

"Why would you envy a monster?"

It was then, dawn broke.

XxX

Sasuke sat at the table and watched his mother clean the dishes of this morning's meal. His father sat on the other side of the table drinking his coffee as he read the paper. A perfect domestic scene of a happy family, unfortunately life in the Uchiha main household was from that.

Sasuke's eyes landed to the person on his right. The person fidgeted.

"Okay, its way past dawn." Shisui said irritated. "That emergency mission shouldn't have taken him that long."

"Worried?" Sasuke smirked.

Shisui glared. "He could only be half dead in the middle of a forest with rats already picking away at his decaying flesh or being tortured by those rogue-nin through-" He was cut off by a smack.

"Shisui Uchiha if you say another vile thing about my son's whereabouts then it will be you-half-dead with rats picking at your flesh." Mikoto said rashly as she scolded the ANBU.

Fugaku took another sip of his coffee, unconcerned.

Mikoto sighed and went back to washing the dishes.

"Soo…gaki…" Shisui began not liking the awkward silence. "I hear you're joining ANBU."

Mikoto stopped and Fugaku looked up at his son.

"Who told you that?" Sasuke said levelly.

"A lil' weasel told me."

"And where did this weasel acquire such information."

"He didn't say but I assume you know." Shisui leaned over Sasuke. "So Sasuke-Is it true?"

Sasuke sipped his tea.

"I knew it!" He poked Sasuke in the forehead. "Now who is going to recommend you? It can't be family and it can't be your sensei so… who is it?"

"That would be me." Came a cold young voice.

Shisui looked in the doorway and swore he saw double.

"Kami! It's a chibi Itachi!"

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Awww...poor Naru-chan and Ita-kun just want to be nice but Gome-chan is still wary of letting people in.

_(cackles)_ I hold all pairings ransome! You will only get them if you review! _(runs away)_

Speaking of reviews- I meant to post this like last week but I got distracted because well...it was my birthday and well it would be nice if someone...reviewed? (Yes I did just use my birthday as a lame excuse for you to review)

**Author's Note: **This is about 2,000 words more than the last chapter-so how was it? Is Itachi OOC? You wouldn't believe how hard it is for him and Kagome to have a decent conversation! _(head+wall)_ But is anyone confused about anything? Well I'm off...hope you review! ~Kimi


	5. The Not So Innocent Pedophile

**Author's Note: **_(reads reviews)_Eh? No one caught Itachi is betrothed _(engaged/affianced)_? Hmm maybe no one finds it too concerning…_(smirks) _Then I guess I'll have to make it more interesting…_(cackles)_

_-Vocabulary-_

Douitashimashite- Your welcome/don't mention it (Okay you caught me-I can't spell this thing...had to copy and paste D:)

Aa-Yeah

Ita-Ow (I use both)

Oba-chan-Aunt (informal)

The rest I think you should all know-if not feel free to yell.

_Oh and Shisui uses nicknames-for everyone basically- and curses so deal with it._

* * *

_It was then she felt something grasp her hand sharply, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. _

_She looked back. _

_He was staring at her, with the most unreadable expression. His eyes were set intently on her; with a cold fury they burned her. For them to be able to change color seemed impossible at that moment for they were so dark. _

_His voice was low and strained, as he seemed to be holding back a sort of anger that wasn't directed at her. _

"_Why would you envy a monster?" _

_It was then, dawn broke. _

XxX

The sun rose and it was at that moment, she saw what the dawn held.

Itachi's hand held onto Kagome's, his long bloodstained fingers curled around her pale palms. She simply stared, her wide anomalous eyes staring back at his dark obsidian that lay on her with a softer gaze now, they seemed lighter but she told herself that it was simply the sun…once `_again_.

However his face was still set in the same impassive expression and his lips in the stern line that seemed familiar now. But she could read him, to an extent…

"You're angry." She said in a low voice.

He seemed to be taken back; she felt his hand twitch and wrap tighter around hers.

"Why?" She asked hoarsely.

He let go of her hand and ran his blood caked fingers through his bangs. "You didn't answer my question."

"Why would you call yourself a monster?" She said a little louder then intended, once again ignoring his question.

He sighed and his lips parted but before he could speak a scratchy voice cut him off.

"Why are you kids making all this racket for?!" Screeched an elderly woman in a flannel nightgown, who was waving the morning paper at them.

Kagome's eyes landed on a gathering crowd who probably could feel the tension in the air. She heard murmurs of 'ANBU', 'Trouble' and 'Blood'. Her eyes flickered down at Itachi's hands; they really were gruesome looking, especially now that the sun had risen as she could now see bits of it on his face now.

She rolled her eyes. _Civilians._ She thought irritatingly. It was rare for them to see ANBU let alone two, conversing about-she didn't even know really. This would reach the Hokage's ears soon enough and she really didn't want to deal with it. It was usually instructed to _shelter,_ the Konoha populace, as much as possible.

Kagome looked to her left to see a young girl staring at Itachi's hands and she realized it was probably best to get him out of here as soon as possible, before the girl figured out Itachi wasn't exactly finger painting.

She was about to say something but before she could, she felt a sharp tug on her person and soon found herself in a blur of color and morning light.

Itachi grabbed her fast, as soon as he felt a few chakra signatures approach; he really didn't want to be lectured by some resident Jounin or Chuunin about proper protocol when it came to shinobi and civilians.

He only had to hold her with one arm for she was so small, he felt her stiffen at first but eventually relax as he sped through Konoha. His feet barely grazed the surface of the roofs before he pushed off again with another burst of chakra for increased speed and stealth.

He felt how she adjusted her weight as he traveled, leaning with him and shifting right before he landed onto another rooftop so that it wasn't too uncomfortable. He also realized how she didn't hold on tight with the ridiculous fear of falling, but instead simply rested her hands at the base of his neck.

He stopped when he reached the edge of Konoha. Itachi set her down when they were high in a tree that gave a breathtaking view of their village. She exhaled as she was set down and looked up at him. "I was about to do the same." She commented on their speedy exit.

"You should act more swiftly next time."

She said nothing and settled herself on the tree branch.

Leaning back on the trunk he did the same as she, as they both watched the sunrise. His eyesight was always keen, even without his Sharingan, as it was able to pick up the dew that seemed to plaster itself on every surface and the golden morning light that made everything seem clean and fresh. It was then he was reminded once more, why he liked the morning so much.

It made everything seem so pure, if only for a moment.

"I've never missed a sunrise." He commented, his deep voice undulating with the morning sounds.

His eyes landed on her. Her alabaster skin seemed to take on the sun's golden hue, as well her stark black hair reflect it and as she turned to him he saw her form was outlined by the morning light. However her eyes stayed the same entrancing blue as always.

"I highly doubt that." She said lowly, so young but cynical as ever. "Ever since you were born?"

He looked back to the east and Kagome saw his eye's lighten… it was only the sun. "Okaa-san always told me I'd have her up til' dawn and the only thing that would put me back to sleep was to cradle me while I watched the sunrise." He looked at her with a small smile. "Now it has simply become a habit."

"Do you want me to rock you to sleep and sing you a lullaby?" She sneered.

He smirked. "If I was anyone else I would be offended."

Her face dropped the pessimistic humor. "Then what are you Uchiha-san?" She was trying to read his emotions.

He looked at her, this girl… that_ coincidence _had dropped into his life. "Curious."

She seemed taken back by his response and he could read her. _About what?_

But she never asked and looked back at the sunrise.

A few moments passed and she felt his eyes on her, his gaze felt heavy as most would have felt intimidated but she felt… comfortable under its weight.

His dark gaze watched as she rubbed off the dark blotches he had left on her pale hands.

He didn't mean to stain her hands in blood.

"You still have yet to answer my question." He spoke suddenly.

"Neither have you." She said as brushed away the last bit. "Answer mine first." She looked at him and repeated the question. "Why would you call yourself a monster?"

He didn't say anything.

"Is it because you have murdered?" She knew that was not the whole answer. "Then if that is the way you think then… we are all monsters, all shinobi do unspeakable things that some cannot even fathom." She turned away from the light of the sun.

He shook his head slightly. "Killing does not make you the monster." He said absently. "I find that people's actions are not what they should be judged upon but rather their sentiment after." His dark gaze lay heavy on her. "That is why; we feel such feelings as remorse, guilt and regret."

"I do not agree." She said softly. "One's emotions are not a just punishment for their actions."

"From what I see…" He let a lengthy pause drag on and she watched as his eyes scanned over her. "It seems that it is a far too cruel of a punishment."

Her eyes narrowed. "And what do you see?"

He smiled softly at her. "I see a foolish girl who envies a murderer."

She sighed. "And you have yet to tell me why you call yourself such awful things Uchiha-san?" She said in a much more lighthearted tone.

He said nothing.

She stared at him with eyes narrowed until they widened with realization. "It's because you don't feel-" She was cut off by his voice.

"Guilt, remorse, regret, sorrow." His face was expressionless along with his dark voice that cut through the bright morning like a cold blade. "Just as you move in silence, I kill without thought." His eyes seemed expecting now, expecting her to turn away from him-to walk away. "That is what makes a monster."

But she didn't.

This small girl looked at him with no pity, no disappointment, no shame nor sadistic pride. She simply looked at him. Simply just a child and yet she gave him something that no other adult ever could.

Acceptance.

"I will never judge you Uchiha-san."

He nodded seemingly accepting something that not even she understood.

But that didn't matter because the sunrise was beautiful and for some reason it looked all the more brighter.

XxX

He was holding that damn umbrella again; the same umbrella that she now loathed, only because Itachi had decided to shield himself and her from the morning sun. Of course that wasn't what bothered her…no…it was the fact that every civilian in Konoha saw that ostentatious clan symbol on said umbrella and gawked at the Uchiha Prodigy.

So they walked casually through the streets of Konoha with Itachi walking gracefully through the bustling morning crowds that seemed to part before him, while Kagome walked silently with arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

Her eyes glanced to her side to see a smirk on his arrogant face. He was enjoying the fact that he was annoying her.

She sighed irritatingly. "I loathe you…" Kagome's voice was deathly serious.

"I rather enjoy your company Higurashi-san." Hence why he was taking her to breakfast.

"Hn." She snorted indignantly finding his statement rather ridiculous. Itachi had suggested a nice breakfast that had a fine view over Konoha, but she said she hadn't wanted to eat in a tree and then he suggested a nice restaurant that he guaranteed she would like, but she didn't want him to spend money. So to save time, they were heading to go eat at the Uchiha Compound, though he didn't seem too eager because he was taking the longest possible route and walking at a rather torpid pace.

They were in one of poorer neighborhoods of Konoha making a sighting of the Uchiha Prodigy an even bigger rarity.

A girl approached, she seemed quite a few years older than Kagome, noting her obvious curves under her summer yukata.

"Ohayo Itachi-san." She said warmly with a slight blush tinting her cheeks.

The slight smile on Itachi's face vanished and the lighthearted air about him along with it. His features were simply chiseled stone.

"Do you remember me?" She kept on going even though his face was still-

Blank.

"We saw each other when your mother bought some more shirts that were embroidered-" The girl kept on rambling and Itachi being the _social butterfly_ he was, responded with his face being perfectly-

Blank.

"Oh well then maybe not, but my name is -" Something ridiculously flowery. Kagome saw Itachi's features remain-

Blank.

"You really don't remember? Your mother has been going to our shop for years. I've see you since-" This girl really didn't know how to take a hint even with his face-

Blank.

She kept on talking.

Itachi's face suddenly then melted into a calm and cool expression rather than a dispassionate one.

He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck and leaned in, whispering huskily in her ear. "Have you ever heard a child's scream?" His voice was deathly low and its tone seemed almost as if he was telling the girl a secret.

"Ano…" Her eyes bugged.

"I don't mean the pathetic wail that is heard most often… but a scream." His eyes flashed and Kagome swore he was about to use his Sharingan. "It's the sound they only make when they cry for their dead mother." The girl had begun to back away but Itachi's lax grip tightened suddenly to hold her in place. "The sound will stay with you… like a constant faint ringing that you can hear every moment… of every day."

The girl looked down at Itachi's hand that was wrapped around her neck to see it splattered with old blood that stuck to his skin like dried paint and when he moved his fingers it cracked and flaked.

She slowly stepped back then ran away with such a frantic speed it was almost comical.

And that was why Itachi Uchiha didn't have fan girls.

Kagome watched the young woman run and she looked up at Itachi, his hand by his side and of course people were now staring even more; wondering how on earth he made the girl run in fear after a few scant sentences.

It was then Kagome swiftly took that accursed hand in hers and dragged the Uchiha, who was simply curious as to what she was doing, to an alley way.

She gritted her teeth when they stopped.

He watched her curiously as she seemingly picked up a dripping hose and turned on the water so that a cool stream came forth.

"Here." She gestured and he gave her a hand.

He raised an eyebrow at the cleanliness of the water, but brushed it off, as it was probably much cleaner than other things.

Pouring the water on, Kagome slowly kneaded the dried blood until it fully dissolved and washed away. "You know Uchiha-san if you continue to say such perverse things… people will begin to think you insane." She instructed as her brows knitted together when she found he had something other than blood under his nails, and she repeated the process with the other hand.

With a swift flick of the wrist his hand was dry. "I do not care what others think of me." He said in a smooth tone as his dark eyes glanced towards the sun that was gaining height.

Kagome wiped off the dark water on her shirt and looked up at him. "We must be going." She knew he would say something like that.

He nodded and began to walk but she didn't follow. Itachi looked back at her with an almost lazy expression.

"Get rid of that umbrella or it will be red… for a very different reason…"

XxX

_Black hair…Black hair…Black hair…Black hair…greyish blackish…black hair… __grey hair…black hair…._Her eyes scanned over the bustling Clan members of the prominent Uchiha Clan.

Kagome scrunched her nose at the very similar looking Uchiha. "Do you inbreed?"

"Not to the extent of the Hyuuga."

"I'll never understand that." She felt a shiver down her spine.

"It is tradition, held by the Clan in order to maintain certain traits." He walked passed a few Uchiha who smiled politely with a slight bow towards him and even Kagome.

"Kekkei Genkai are simply genetic mutations that have been exploited and manipulated through incest." Kagome pointed out.

"Many would be killed for saying such things." He informed her levelly.

"Then I should watch my back then."

His steps faltered ever so slightly, to anyone else, it would have gone unnoticed but her eyes caught everything.

Her eyes kept him in peripheral view and Kagome watched as Itachi nodded to a group of men who acknowledged him with the same impassive response, Kagome watched as their dark eyes landed on her, examined her and seemingly approved. But she _felt_ their wariness and suspicion resonating from their _presences_…

Like a pack of wolves eager to attack, simply waiting for their alpha's command.

Her eyes landed on Itachi.

"It seems you fit in with us inbreeds."

Kagome crossed her arms. "I look nothing like an Uchiha."

He closed his eyes slightly with a nod. "Hai…I suppose you don't." His voice was distant.

"Besides my hair is darker and I don't have your creepy inbred eyes." She muttered.

"Hn." A slight smirk placed itself on his lips and then suddenly Itachi stopped dead in his tracks.

Kagome looked back. "You alright, Uchiha-san?" The blue shadows of the morning made him seem so depressing…

His impassive gaze and sardonic smirk turned to the right, to a wooden archway entangled in delicate white flowers that gave off the familiar musky floral scent of jasmine.

An elegant but ever so deadly hand lifted and hovered over the ivory flowers, that seemed doomed to their fate as Itachi held one in between two fingers. He caressed its small petal slightly before plucking it right off its stem.

Kagome watched, he was so…random.

Itachi then closed his long fingers around the little flower and held up a closed fist to Kagome.

She raised a brow.

"How many do I have?" He said with a fist held up in front of him and eyes set intently on her; waiting for the answer.

She said nothing and her eyes widened as he opened his fisted hand and let seven flowers fall from his long finger tips.

She'd only seen him pick one.

She smirked and her eyes once again became their former half lidded gaze. "Impressive." It was the first time she meant it. "However, I've always preferred riddles to illusions."

"Indulge me." He said simply and began to walk once more at a leisurely pace that beckoned her to follow.

"Alright…" She paused only for a moment, to think over what to say. "Mountains will crumble and nations will fall, as no man can survive… my everlasting call." She looked up to him. "What am I?"

"Time." He said it quickly and she noticed they were exiting the main commerce area of the Uchiha Compound and now entering a more suburban part.

"Hn." She grunted, not pleased he found it simple. Kagome crossed her arms as they walked through the dirt path that seemed to widen. "As destructive as life, as healing as death…"She began.

Itachi's gaze landed on her as they walked the path that curved around a set of larger houses and soon she found herself approaching a large manor.

"…an institutor of strife, but just as prone to bless…"

They approached the building as Kagome saw a traditional styled house of dark and aged wood. The shingled roof curled up at the edges and pointed at the apexes in a customary but ever so regal style.

A stone wall with the Uchiha emblem dotting across encircled the manor only visibly opening at the front, where a wooden archway proudly hung a canopy of drooping blue fabric, that had the Uchiha clan symbol emblazoned on it as well.

They walked under it and Kagome was greeted with a simple but large garden.

"…It is all that is good, yet with an evil trend; as it was the beginning of things, it can also be the end…"

The soft but solid tap of a bamboo fountain reached her ears as well as some escalated voices.

He stopped for a moment and he thought it over for only a few seconds. "Love." His voice seemed to have an amused tone to it.

Her head snapped up. "Iie…I'm afraid it's much simpler then that."

He looked down at her. "Is that so?"

"Mhm…its fire." Kagome almost said timidly.

"Hm." He mused before Itachi continued walking, that is until Kagome called at him.

"Uchiha-san?"

He turned back and stared at the young girl who was encompassed by the morning light.

"Why love?" She asked. "I don't understand why you view it as such a destructive force."

"Why fire?" Itachi retorted rhythmically as he began to walk inside the manor.

This only strengthened her argument.

"You have a very morbid outlook on things Uchiha-san." She reminded him as she walked inside. Kagome sat beside Itachi on the lacquered wood as they both unstrapped their black ANBU footwear.

"You have already stated this." He said as he slowly stood and looked down at her.

"I simply am…" She took off her second shoe. "...reiterating my point, Uchiha-san." Her eyes went up from his bruised feet to his sleek but strong frame, until she met his intense dark stare that seemingly spoke for him. _'And that would be?'_

_That… _

"You are very strange man Uchiha-san." She stood.

"Hn."

They walked through hallways that were somewhat dark until they reached the dining area, where Kagome heard a rather deep and boisterous voice.

"I hear you're joining ANBU."

"Who told you that?" She knew that voice.

"A lil' weasel told me."

"And where did this weasel acquire such information."

"He didn't say but I assume you know." She watched as the young man hovered over Sasuke like an eagle about to capture its prey. "So Sasuke-Is it true?"

Sasuke didn't mind him and simply sipped his morning tea.

"I knew it!"

The man's charcoal eyes gleamed. "Now who is going to recommend you? It can't be family and it can't be your sensei so… who is it?"

Her brows knitted together and her voice resonated coldly through the room. "That would be me."

The man's head whipped around in a flurry of black hair. He stared with wide eyes as he was obviously startled that he hadn't noticed her presence.

"Kami! It's a chibi Itachi!" He yelped and was suddenly on the other side of the room.

He was fast and noting by his chakra signature he was obviously AN-what did he just call her?

She tensed, this man was a joke.

"Shisui." Itachi's tone was intimidating as ever but held a hint of exasperation.

The man eyes flicked off her and onto Itachi. "Ohayo Captain!" The ANBU known as Shisui said with a cheeky grin and with a lax wave.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sasuke grounded out.

Whether it was directed towards Itachi or her, she really didn't care but she glared anyway.

"Itachi." The man with a paper in front of him and a mug in hand spoke roughly. "Who is this?"

"Kagome Higurashi." Sasuke said tensely. "ANBU Captain."

She remembered the man's name, it was spoken often, the head of the Uchiha Clan-Fugaku Uchiha.

Fugaku eyes landed on her and scanned over her. "How old are you?"

"Twelve." There was no pause between question and answer.

"When did you graduate the academy?"

"Seven."

"When did you attain Chu-"

"Nine."

His eyes narrowed at her cutting him off. "And Jou-"

"Ten."

Her eyes locked with the Clan head, she did not like this man and she would by no means hide the fact.

"What division do you belong to?" Shisui questioned cautiously noting her spiteful temper on first impressions.

"Reconnaissance." That meant one thing.

"You have no team." Shisui pointed out.

"Each of us works independently, though I am one of the Captains that directs the division."

"Captain?" Shisui didn't seem to believe and was about to speak before Mikoto stopped everyone with a raised hand.

"That's all well and good, but all of you must talk business elsewhere for my son has not eaten and I have a guest." She proclaimed with a wink towards Kagome.

Itachi said nothing and walked over to the low table where Sasuke sat impassively.

Kagome sat next to Itachi and looked up to see Sasuke studying her and Shisui staring at her with a gaping mouth.

"Shisui why don't you take a seat and get to know our new guest." Mikoto instructed sweetly that hid an obvious threat. She placed two cups in front of Itachi and Kagome before walking back to the kitchen area.

Shisui approached the table cautiously and simply sat next to Sasuke with an expression of awe.

"Uh Itachi…" Shisui pointed at Kagome. "Who the hell is she?"

"An acquaintance." He sipped his tea. "It is rude to not address people directly… Shisui."

Kagome cleared her throat before she sipped her tea and Shisui looked up to see a pair of murky blue eyes staring at him pointedly.

Shisui's eyes narrowed. "Shisui Uchiha." He held out a hand for the customary introduction.

"Shunshin no Shisui." Kagome stated and stared at the hand, she would not shake it. "Kagome Higurashi." She introduced herself as she set down her cup.

"Never heard of you." He said brusquely as he shoved the outstretched hand in a pocket, obviously offended by her actions.

"It seems that I have been fortunate then." She paused. "Until this moment." Her voice was sharp.

Shisui's jaw slacked and then molded into an obnoxious grin. "Shit! You are a little clone of weasel!"

"Shisui!" Mikoto snapped from the kitchen. "Language…" She scolded.

Shisui leaned over the table, his dark charcoal eyes drinking in her image.

He was inches from her face.

Her eyes narrowed.

Shisui's grin grew.

Kagome tensed, she was about to draw blood if he didn't remove himself from her personal space-but then he did the unthinkable.

_Poke. _

Right on the forehead.

"So are you a prodigy like smart ass over here?"

_Poke. _

She set down the teacup.

_Poke. _

"I mean, you gotta be."

_Poke. _

"You're a Captain and you're only twelve."

_Poke. _

"I'm twenty-two and I'm still his underling…you must be pretty damn smart-what's your IQ?"

_Poke. _

"Oi!"

_Poke. _

"I'm talking to you!"

_Poke. _

"You mute?"

_Snap._

It happened fast.

Shisui stared at his finger-it was bent backwards.

"Fuck!" Shisui cursed.

Kagome smirked.

Shisui cradled the contorted digit and stared at the girl dressed in black. "You broke my finger!"

"Hn." And she sipped her tea.

Shisui looked to see Sasuke smirking mockingly and his Captain holding an amused glint in his eyes.

"Shisui, stop yelling." Mikoto chastised as she set down a tray of various plates and bowls.

Shisui bit his quivering lip.

"Here." Mikoto swiftly took Shisui's finger in hand and snapped it right back into place.

"Ita!" He screeched.

Shisui rocked back and forth in the fetal position, cradling his hand.

"It's the least you deserve." Mikoto said quickly and then quickly smiled cheekily to Kagome, who was eating her tamagoyaki. "Is it good Kagome-chan?"

Kagome's eyes landed on the Uchiha matriarch and then she nodded curtly before she continued eating.

"I'm so glad." She poured more tea for Kagome. "You should come over here more often." She said as she scurried away to the kitchen.

Fugaku folded his paper and set down his mug. He stood abruptly with a stern gaze that landed on Kagome. "Dinner is at six." And with that he left.

Kagome's eyes watched the Uchiha patriarch's departing back until he left and then her eyes landed on Itachi, his jaw was set and she could see how still he was. He was no man to show tension but he couldn't hide everything…at least not from her.

"So where have you been?" Shisui said, leaning over the table.

Itachi placed a cube of tofu in his mouth.

"Great, now you're giving me the silent treatment." He leaned back and plopped a rice ball in his mouth, that had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

Kagome smirked, this man obviously was Itachi's teammate, they complimented each other quite nicely though.

"Shisui-why are you here?" Sasuke spoke and Kagome's eyes landed on him.

"Well I was looking for smart ass over here." He jerked his thumb in Itachi's direction. "But apparently…he was busy." Shisui locked a pointed gaze at Kagome. "Anyway… I just wanted to inform you of my possible promotion."

"I already know." Itachi said simply.

Shisui shrugged. "At least I got a free meal out of it."

"What division?" Kagome asked, slightly curious. She was really uniformed about ANBU affairs now.

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" Shisui sneered.

"Communications."

"Arigato Uchiha-san." Kagome said politely as she shot Shisui with an all knowing look.

"How do you go from Assassinations to the Communications Unit?" Sasuke asked.

Shisui shrugged. "Apparently someone recommended me and it was seconded leaving it up to the Hokage."

Kagome thought for a moment. "That makes sense, considering your summons." She chewed the last bit of pickle in her mouth. "A summoned eagle is much more efficient then any trained hawk I would presume. Especially with speech capabilities." Her eyes closed as she lifted her nose in a condescending fashion. "In fact, I don't see why they didn't do it earlier."

Shisui mulled it over. "Because they didn't have someone to replace me before." He answered, knowing it was the hard truth. "The Assassination squad has always had the fewest members; each spot is a coveted position that many contend for and with the upcoming applicants up for grabs, it's obvious some newcomer is going to take my place." Shisui spoke so calmly about his replacement.

Shisui shrugged after a moment of acceptance. "I'm still being promoted no matter how you look at it; I'll be a Captain of my own platoon at least." There was still the hint of dissatisfaction etched in his voice.

"The real question is- who is going to replace you?" As soon as her words left her mouth, all eyes landed on Sasuke.

"It's up to the Hokage now." Shisui sighed. "Not the Clan."

Kagome realized now how much sway this…Clan had over the village. They were dangerous.

"I will join whatever division best suits me, just as the Hokage orders." Sasuke said fluidly, mirroring Itachi's stillness but his shoulders were still locked in tension.

Shisui smirked. "That's if you get in." He pointed an unbroken finger at Kagome. "I wouldn't be so confident with chibi here. You guys aren't even training."

With that accusation she stood abruptly, gave him a death glare and turned around to leave.

"Oi!" She heard Shisui's booming laughter. "Weasel, your chibi even has a lil' mini katana!"

She tensed but continued to walk, she had somewhere to be.

XxX

"Ohayo forehead."

Sakura looked up from her menu, today was Ino and her's weekly get together. Said blonde squeezed her way through the small dainty tables on the veranda that overlooked the village. It was a beautiful morning, Sakura mused as she watched a few birds scurry about in the morning light.

"Whew." Ino sat with a plop as she slammed a stack of books on the table, making the glassware shudder precariously. "Tell me why you wanted these again." She gestured to the medical textbooks. "This is just basic stuff; you know it inside and out."

Sakura sipped her sparkling water. "I know someone who may want them." She said with a wink.

"Well they can just borrow them, I need them for referencing." Ino said sharply. "Aren't you supposed to be training?"

"Aren't you?" Sakura retorted.

"Eh." Ino waved it off. "Shikamaru is busy this morning."

"Doing what?"

"None of your business." Ino snubbed.

Sakura stuck her tongue out with narrowed eyes as she grasped a textbook. Flipping it open, she blew away the dust. "Referencing my ass." She muttered.

"So what are we having?" Ino said from behind a menu. "I'm thinking a pastry of some sort."

Sakura shrugged as she turned the page, seeing another diagram of an eye. "Just the usual."

"You need to live a little forehead." Ino chastised as she set down her menu. "So daifuku with ogura right?"

"Mhm." Sakura mused absently, eyes scanning over the pages.

Ino waved down a waiter and ordered the meal that shouldn't even be considered breakfast. "…and some nuomici as well." Ino called as the waiter scurried off.

Sakura closed the book and dug through her bag to retrieve a manila folder.

"What's that?" Ino asked as she sipped Sakura's drink.

"None of your business." Sakura said smugly as she grabbed her beverage from Ino's grasp.

"No need to be such a bitch." Ino accused.

Sakura brushed off her friend/rival as she looked over Kagome's file. She really shouldn't even have the semi-classified record out of the office but it felt like she was missing something…

She looked at Kagome's past address.

It clicked.

"Nara." She said to herself.

"What was that forehead?" Ino said, drinking Sakura's sparkling water again.

"Does Shikamaru know a Kagome Higurashi?"

Ino gaped. "Ano…How do you know that?"

"Because it says right here that she lived in the Nara district a few years back." Sakura pointed to the folder in hand.

Ino sighed. "How do you know her?"

"My team has been training with her." Sakura informed her. "What do you know about her?"

Ino shrugged. "Shikamaru's Clan found her, well Shikaku-san did."

"And they raised her."

"I guess." Ino plopped an ice cube in her mouth. "You're training with her? Quiet thing isn't she?"

"Not really."

Ino raised a brow. "She's never spoken a word to me every time I come around. Shikamaru said she usually doesn't talk to other people…at all."

Sakura smiled. "Maybe she has a good sense of character."

Ino snorted indignantly. "Whatever forehead, you're a freak just like her."

Sakura stopped. "Why would you say that?"

-

-

-

-

Ino saw her friend actually took offense, for once. "I'm just kidding Sakura."

"No you're not." Sakura stood and gathered her things. She looked down at her friend, cold jade met Ino's _shallow_ blue depths. "You see her as a freak but you just don't understand her."

"Sakura- I say things, I shouldn't have opened my mouth...Just let it go." Ino said to Sakura's departing figure.

But she couldn't because, this was but a taste of what Naruto had to go through and what Kagome was going through. People just didn't understand them, so they ostracized them.

It infuriated her.

XxX

She walked the path less traveled some would say as she scuttled over the roofs of Konoha. The sun was gaining height, she was uncharacteristically late this morning. She landed on the ground next to an alley way, her fall making only a soft thud.

"You're late." Shikamaru called at her, leaning against a wall of the alleyway.

Kagome looked at him, the morning sun lazily fell where they stood making everything seem more shadowed.

"Let's get this over with." She said sharply, walking past Shikamaru and down the alleyway.

He was walking heavily beside her. "Where have you been?"

She didn't answer.

"I went by your apartment yesterday for lunch-you weren't there. " His brown eyes studied her; she was calm under his scrutinizing gaze. "I went by this morning-you weren't there."

He watched her, she was ignoring him. She was hiding something, his eyes landed on her short sword. "You've been training." He then noticed her hands; they were slightly chapped and bruised.

"I have."

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "I thought you hated ANBU."

"It was something to do." She stated, realizing they had this conversation two days earlier.

The alley way turned sharply to the left where it opened up, revealing the edge of the village. The sun blinded Shikamaru for a moment, making his eyes ache from the intensity. He covered his eyes with a forearm.

Kagome kept on walking.

The pair came upon a complex on the outskirts of Konoha. Its walls were bleak and the buildings grey; with black shingled roofs and dark figures standing eerily on them, watching.

Approaching Konoha's ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force's headquarters was something many did not venture to do unless under orders or sentenced to.

The space between the village and the headquarters was an intimidating one, considering the eyes of every ANBU torturer and interrogator were either on them or aware of them.

Kagome consciously let her signature flare, letting them know of her rank.

They reached the only visible entrance of the complex, which had two masked ANBU operatives posted for guarding. They acknowledged her lightly as she passed by, throwing up a hand, she signaled to let Shikamaru pass.

She entered through the opening to be greeted by various groups of ANBU walking about the compound; it reminded her of an ant's nest. A very deadly one. They swarmed about the compound, each individual assigned a very specific task to ensure the safety of the village.

Of course this was just one of the divisions in ANBU.

She recognized quite a few signatures of the Reconnaissance division, knowing full well that each division worked together to form the cohesive organization of Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.

She walked straight, knowing exactly where to go and as she walked, she felt the eyes of them all. She knew that only a Captain had the authority to remove their mask while on duty, but she was no active captain but it still didn't change the fact that she got many looks.

Eventually she came to the main building where another pair of ANBU guards was posted at the doors. Her eyes glanced over the sign with the kanji etched onto a white slate in black ink stating- Konoha ANBU Gomon-Jinmon Butai.

Konoha ANBU Torture-Interrogation force's headquarters was the place she was instructed to be, at least every few days. In her opinion it was a complete and utter waste of time.

She walked past the ANBU, again signaling for the clearance of Shikamaru and then proceeded down the eerily lit hallway. The fluorescent lighting of the white hallways was blinding, as it illuminated every speck and every stain. Knowing Ibiki Morino, Kagome guessed he left it all there, so that any unfortunate soul who happened to find themselves in here-would get the full experience.

She walked straight, down the brightly lit halls and then turned sharply. She felt Shikamaru tense as his walking became more rigid, he hated being here just as much as she did. She turned again, then again, then again and again. Noting that this place was a trap with one exit and one wrong move would cost you your life... if you were escaping of course.

They reached another door, but this one had no guards. It didn't need any for you were a fool to enter.

Kagome twisted the knob and opened it.

The room was pitch black. She walked forward and faced the two-way mirror where she watched her _psychologist._

Ibiki Morino stalked an intimidating gait about the little interrogation room that contained a metal table, two metal chairs and one very cowardly looking rogue-nin.

_Must be the one Uchiha-san brought in. _Kagome deliberated, knowing that this nin's number was up.

"Oi kid." Came a quick greeting, then a hand tousling her hair.

Her eyes landed on Anko Mitarashi, who was probably here just to watch as usual. The woman had a smirk on her face as she watched the nin jump visibly at what Ibiki just said, she took a bite of dango.

"You here for your appointment?" Anko asked, mouth full of dango.

Kagome nodded, wondering what else she could be here for.

Anko knocked on the glass three times, making Ibiki turn to the two-way mirror as if he actually saw them on the other side and nodded. The two ANBU who were leaning against the wall in the room, grabbed the man and dragged him away. Kagome noted his legs were broken.

Anko put in the security code to unlock the door, letting Ibiki walk in.

The massive man turned on the light, revealing two other ANBU in the room. Shikamaru jumped as Kagome rolled her eyes.

Ibiki picked up a clipboard and took a file out of a metal filing cabinet. He opened the door to the interrogation room. "After you." He said politely.

Kagome crossed her arms and walked through the doors.

She sat in the same chair where many of the interrogated had sat before. The door close and Kagome knew that Shikamaru was talking to Ibiki about her recent activities. She closed her eyes, trying to not let her annoyance show.

Ibiki walked in minutes later with her file on a clipboard, he sat in the metal chair that looked like it was about to snap under his weight.

He flipped through the file, taking his time and she knew he was doing this to annoy her.

"You want to join ANBU again?"

She never said that.

She sighed and then shrugged. He should know by her body language.

"You've been taking all of your medication?"

He knew she wasn't.

She shrugged.

"Why did you go to the Academy?"

She smirked, he finally asked.

"Children my age have just become Genin." She stated, throwing her feet up on the table she leaned back the chair precariously.

"And this bothers you?"

She shrugged. "I'm an ANBU Captain when they're Genin." Her eyes locked with his. "I think that might disturb anyone."

"Disturb?" Wrong choice of words. "Disturb who?"

She shrugged.

"So you care about what others think of you."

She tensed. _Damn it._

"How are your nightmares?"

"Haven't had any. You keep me drugged up enough, I don't even dream." She snapped.

Ibiki wrote something down.

"When was the last time you had one?"

She shrugged.

"When you skip dosages, do you sleep?" Ibiki questioned.

"No."

"Why is that?"

She shrugged. "Sleeping doesn't come naturally anymore and I don't like taking drugs to induce it."

"Your body needs rest." He reminded her as his eyes glanced over her file for a few more minutes, making her impatient.

_No shit. _She thought as she stretched languidly.

"How's your appetite?"

"Nonexistent."

He wrote something down.

He tapped his pen, as if deliberating on what to say.

"Have you had thoughts of suicide recently?"

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

"Yes."

XxX

"What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch."

"Not funny Naruto." Sakura chided as she leaned against the oak tree. It was almost noon and Kakashi was late as usual but Kagome and Sasuke were no where to be found.

"Why did you bring those medical books?"

Sakura looked over to Naruto who was sitting next to her. "Why do you have those rice balls?" She gestured to the brown paper bag.

"I came here early so that Kagome and I could eat breakfast." He said lightly but he seemed down because of her absence, his blue eyes now looked at her awaiting her answer.

"I brought these." She patted the thick stack of books. "For Kagome, thought she might want to expand her Medical Ninjutsu knowledge."

"Just because she's smart doesn't mean she wants to read your boring stuff."

"Shut up." She grounded out as she punched Naruto in the arm.

Sakura leaned against the tree with a sigh. "Wonder where Sasuke and Kagome-chan are?"

Naruto was silent.

"Maybe there off doing something together..." Sakura wondered absently.

"Teme doesn't even like her." Naruto reminded her snappishly.

"No need to get jealous Naruto." Sakura taunted lightly.

"I'm not jealous." Naruto retorted sharply.

Sakura turned to him and ruffled his hair. "It's okay, she's your new lil' buddy. I mean you and Sasuke always got jealous over the other…Remember how jealous Sasuke got over Gaara?"

Naruto chuckled richly. "Teme didn't talk to me for weeks."

"But this time is different…" Sakura began, her jade eyes studying Naruto. "This time you're jealous over Kagome not Sasuke."

Naruto tensed. "I said I wasn't jealous."

"It's okay Naruto… I realize why she's with our team now."

"You do?"

"Mhm." Sakura smiled genuinely.

A figure landed in the clearing.

"And it'll be our lil' secret." She pinched her fingers and dragged them over lips, zipping them shut. Sakura waved over at Sasuke. "Ohayo Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke threw up a lax wave and approached them rigidly.

"He's pissed." Naruto noted as the Uchiha approached.

"Yep." Sakura said quickly right before Sasuke was within earshot. "You're late Sasuke." Sakura scolded.

The two of them stood.

Sasuke brushed her off as his eyes locked with Naruto's. "It seems Itachi and Kagome are now acquainted." He ran his hands through his hair. "And it won't be long before my Clan is as well."

"Wait-how the hell did that happen? She told me she hadn't even met him."

"What's the problem?" Sakura asked genuinely.

"Itachi." Naruto said sharply. "I don't want him around her; he's a bad influence on her." His jaw tensed. "So is the Uchiha Clan."

"How?" Sakura questioned simply. "It would seem they would have a lot in common."

"That's the whole point; I don't want her to have anything more in common with that psycho-no offense Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't seem to mind. "He's dangerous Sakura and my Clan is suspicious of her."

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked, his eyes sharp.

"There was a meeting between otou-san and few others, excluding Itachi and Shisui, concerning my training with her. It seems they are wary with her sudden amity with Itachi and me."

"They think she wants something." Naruto said suddenly.

Sasuke nodded. "If I hadn't been listening in then I wouldn't have known why otou-san invited her for dinner tonight."

"What do you think he'll do?"

Sasuke shrugged, knowing worst case scenario would be that she winded up dead. Naruto's eyes widened with that realization.

"I'm sure you're both over exaggerating things; Kagome is smart enough to know what she is doing." Sakura brushed off their concerns. "Besides, Itachi doesn't pose a threat to Kagome anymore than the Clan does."

"It's not just that…" Naruto began.

"What else then?" Sakura asked exasperatedly.

"He's OLD!" Naruto exclaimed. "For all we know, he could be a pedophile."

Sasuke seemed taken back by Naruto's train of thought. _Dobe didn't have to go that far. _

"He's nineteen, why the hell would a nineteen year old want to be friends with a twelve year old?" Naruto was getting red in the face. "I mean-I don't exactly recall Itachi ever having a girlfriend."

"I think your overlooking one vital thing, Naruto." Sakura said sharply with narrowed eyes.

"And what's that?"

"That maybe they're both very lonely."

-

-

-

-

-

"Yeah…well…it's still weird."

"It's weird that she's training with us." Sakura pointed out.

"That's different." Naruto muttered.

"How?"

"Because we're helping her and she's helping us." Naruto stated his weak argument.

"You're both talking in circles." Sasuke broke in. "Itachi isn't a pedophile." He looked at Naruto. "And he isn't completely innocent." He looked at Sakura thus ending the argument.

"So then we just keep an eye on them." Sakura stated.

"I was about to say the same thing." Naruto said with a fox like grin.

"Keep an eye on who?"

Sakura screeched as Naruto jumped and Sasuke whipped around to face one short pipsqueak of an ANBU.

"How long have you been standing there?" Naruto demanded, obviously startled.

"Enough to hear that Uchiha-san isn't a pedophile but he's not completely innocent." Kagome drawled.

"Well….at least you know something…. that might be good to know." Naruto fumbled over his words.

Sakura slapped a hand over her eyes in frustration. "Wrong time to be listening in Kagome-chan."

Kagome shrugged.

"Gome-chan?"

Kagome looked up at Sakura. "Why do you have a sword?"

All eyes landed on the straight sheathed sword in hand by her side. The sword looked a little too large for her to use efficiently.

"It's a chokutō." She corrected as she lifted the charcoal colored sheath, the straight sword balanced perfectly on her hand. "Cost me a lot to get one like this." She said as she admired the sleek l weapon.

Sasuke raised a brow, it didn't look that impressive. That is…until Kagome handed it to him.

It was shoved at him so fast he didn't even have any time to react, except by grasping the straight sword.

"Douitashimashite" She said quickly before walking off into the center of the clearing.

Sasuke set down the two bento boxes in hand, right next to Sakura's books and Naruto's brown paper bag.

"Let's go Uchiha, I don't have all day." Kagome drawled.

"Have fun Sasuke." Sakura called knowing they would be in for a treat.

Sasuke's fingers curled tightly around the sheath of the chokutō as he approached the waiting prodigy. Their eyes met and he was again studying her face. It didn't fit her age.

"Draw your blade, Uchiha." She said, her voice seemed deeper.

He pulled on the saya of the sword and nothing happened.

"Don't hold it upside down." She instructed, obviously annoyed.

Sasuke heard Naruto and Sakura snickering at him, he gritted his teeth.

Kagome sighed. "We have a long way to go." She muttered as Sasuke unsheathed the blade revealing a straight gleaming piece of metal. The blade sung in the air with an eerie whine.

Sasuke held up his new weapon, the brightening morning light caught the blade and reflected with a stunning white gleam that slid across. His fingers twitched with anticipation as they made contact with the cool metal.

"Don't touch it." She snapped.

Instantly his fingers retracted.

"It is made of high carbon steel." Kagome gestured to the sword. "It is prone to rust very quickly, you need to keep it well oiled if you want to house your blade in a saya and you must avoid moisture as much as possible."

He nodded, understanding that what she had just done was extremely considerate and probably not a very common occurrence with her.

"Now." She unsheathed her short sword. "A chokutō differentiates from a katana in many overlooked ways."

He could tell just by the structure of the sword that it was much different. Lacking a hilt and the straight blade seemed very uncommon to him.

"Though some argue that the chokutō is less effective than a katana."

"Do you agree with this?" Sasuke was genuinely curious.

"Hai." Kagome said with a smirk. "But a katana has a different stroke than a chokutō, known as the draw-cut." Her blade now hummed to life with chakra and he watched as she quickly sliced the air with her blade. "The legs are an essential part of this stroke."

"And the chokutō?"

"You just chop." She said lightly.

Sasuke raised a brow.

"Here switch blades." She tossed her chakra-enhance wakizashi at him.

He barely caught it by the hilt before tossing his chokutō towards her. He noticed the moment her weapon left her grasp the chakra flowing through it instantly ceased.

"Pick up your saya." Kagome scolded sharply as she caught the sword, twirled it lightly and sliced the air nimbly. "You use your wrist mainly."

She showed him the stroke a few more times, 'chopping' the air in front of her with barely any foot movement.

Kagome looked up to see if Sasuke was catching on, their eyes met.

Blue clashed with red.

_His eyes. _

Her breath caught in her throat as the blade clattered to the ground.

She felt her heart race.

"Oi Kagome!" Naruto called.

The next moment he was by her side.

"You alright Kagome?" He was shaking her lightly. "What's wrong?" Naruto's voice was strained.

Naruto grasped her shoulders lightly.

She was trembling.

He followed her line of vision, she was staring wide-eyed at Sasuke's Sharingan.

"Teme." Naruto grounded out.

Sasuke blinked and his eyes again were black.

Kagome blinked as well and immediately pushed Naruto away. "Get off me, baka." She said hoarsely.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked as she ran up to the trio.

"Nothing." Kagome said tersely as she picked up the blade and threw back at Sasuke. "Do a few reps." She instructed as Sasuke tossed back her wakizashi.

"Ohayo Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Kagome." Kakashi called brusquely as he walked lazily into the clearing with Icha Icha in hand and a lax wave to his newly expanded team.

"You're late." Kagome pointed out.

"Excellent observation, Kagome-san." Kakashi said with a crinkled eye.

Sasuke chopped the air swiftly for the twenty-third time. He was already catching on. Kakashi looked at his student. "I see you have a new weapon Sasuke."

Sasuke chopped the air again, making a sharp swoosh and then twirled the blade deftly until he placed it in his sheath that was placed on his back.

"He's had the thing for five minutes." Naruto grumbled, not liking that his best friend had already mastered the sword's basic technique.

Kagome sheathed hers as well; knowing that Kakashi had superiority over her so whatever she had planned would have to wait.

"Kagome-san?"

Kagome looked up to Kakashi who was peering over his book. "What did you have planned this morning?"

"Reps, sparring, and more reps."

"I see." He said earnestly as he scratched his masked chin. "Then proceed." Kakashi waved them off as he gestured for Sakura and Naruto to follow. "You two get to do something extra special…" She heard Kakashi say followed by a groan from Sakura.

"Alright, let's just spar then." Kagome said, Sasuke noted how she didn't meet his gaze.

They both unsheathed their weapons as Kagome channeled her Wind chakra through her blade. They both got into stance.

"Come at me."

Sasuke shot off with a strong burst of chakra and Kagome staggered back by the force of his hit. Tilting the wakizashi, the curve of her chakra blade locked with the straight edge of the chokutō, taking away the force of Sasuke's hit. Gripping her short sword with both hands now, Kagome snaked her wakizashi around Sasuke's chokutō and set it flying with one deft flick. Disarming him and thus pointed her own blade at the base of his neck.

"That's the disadvantage-work around it and you're a superior fighter." Kagome said strongly, her eyes meeting his now.

Sasuke took it as a challenge.

One he would overcome.

XxX

"You're over thinking it." Kagome sent his blade flying again.

Again he was disarmed.

"Do that again and I'll break the blade."

It was difficult, this was something he couldn't be taught. He needed to overcome the advantages of a katana based on his own knowledge. He was at a disadvantage and Kagome did not know how he could overcome it, he would have to teach himself.

_The katana's curved blade is more efficient and the sword is lighter compared to mine._

Sasuke thought as he walked across the lush grass.

"Stop thinking." She hollered as he picked up his blade for umpteenth time.

_Then how am I supposed to figure this out?_ He thought irritated. He was determined to learn this sword; he would not use a katana and be like his brother.

"Lunchtime!" Sakura hollered as she waved everyone over to the tree.

Sasuke walked up to Kagome, she sheathed her wakizashi hastily as she approached where Naruto and Sakura were.

Sasuke watched her departing back for a moment.

She looked over her shoulder, her black hair clutching her pale face. "You coming, Uchiha?"

He studied her eyes.

"Aa…" He sheathed his new weapon before walking alongside her to where Naruto and Sakura sat.

"Instant Ramen!" Naruto exclaimed triumphantly as he held up the little cup.

Kagome and Sasuke approached as Sakura was looking at two slim black boxes. "Sasuke-kun, why do you have two bento boxes?" She held one in each hand.

Before she could blink Sasuke had them both in hand. "Kaa-san heard that somebody loved her rice balls."

"Oh! You mean me?" Sakura exclaimed, overjoyed that Mikoto would have gone through so much trouble to make her a lunch.

"Iie." Sasuke crushed Sakura's hopes as he handed the bento box to Kagome.

"Eh?" She took it warily as if it had an exploding tag on it.

"Douitashimashite." Sasuke retorted with a smirk.

"Hn." Kagome sat on the ground and opened the bento box. Inside were cat-shaped rice balls, flower-shaped vegetables and a nice little note with some hiragana scratched onto it.

She read the dainty script on the light pink paper.

_Hope you have fun with Sasuke today Kagome!_

_Can't wait to see you tonight at dinner!_

"You're having dinner with them!" Naruto screeched as he was leaning over to read the note. "With all of them?!"

"By all-you mean Sasuke's immediate family, then hai…I am."

"How come Mikoto-san doesn't make me bento, Sasuke-kun?"

"Because you're annoying." Sasuke snapped.

"Geez teme, don't need to be so grumpy." Naruto pointed out as he sat between Kagome and Sasuke.

"It's okay Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said cheerily as she plopped a stack of medical books in front of Kagome. "Here ya go, Gome-chan."

Cheeks full of rice, Kagome looked up at Sakura with a questioning stare.

"Thought you might find these interesting." Sakura brushed some imaginary lint off her short red cheongsam. "They'll help you expand your Ninjustsu knowledge on chakra enhanced cell regeneration."

"You don't have to take them." Naruto whispered as he poured his canteen of water into his cup of noodles.

"Arigato Sakura-san." Kagome whispered.

"You don't have to take them if you don't want to, though I'm sure the owner won't need them anymore." Sakura said noting Kagome's sudden change in behavior.

"Iie…I've never received a gift before." Kagome admitted.

"Oh…really? Not even from Shikamaru?" The moment she said it, she clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto asked suddenly.

Kagome's soft gaze sharpened. "Sakura-san, how do you know about my affiliation with Nara?"

"Affiliation?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Hai."

"Affiliation to who?" Sakura continued.

"To Nara, how do you know?"

"Who?"

"You just said it." Naruto pointed out.

"I did?"

"Hai…you did." Kagome grounded out.

"You sure?"

"She's doing it again!" Naruto exclaimed with exasperation.

"Doing what?"

"Sakura." Sasuke cut it, his tone annoyed.

"Hai Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut it."

"Shut what?"

"Oh for Kami's sake!" Naruto shouted.

XxX

After three excruciating minutes later, Naruto had learned of Sakura's source was from Ino, who knew Kagome prior. Upon which Kagome called Ino…a not so nice thing and Naruto then proceeded to learn of Kagome's affiliation with Shikamaru. Apparently Kagome had lived with the Nara Clan prior to her current residence and remains in relative contact with them.

After that, Kagome abruptly cut them off- not wishing to discuss it any longer. Then they all proceeded to eat lunch, Sakura eating the rice balls that were intended to be Naruto's and Kagome's breakfast and Naruto had cold instant ramen that was quickly solved with a watered down Katon jutsu-pun intended.

Kakashi then had walked in wondering why Naruto was hollering about Kagome going to dinner with a pedophile. Yes, things got a lil' awkward after that especially when Naruto and Sakura were not invited to dinner.

Which, Naruto was still fuming about as he slammed into the training dummy with Rasengan.

"Naruto!" Sakura called. "Control your chakra!" She yelled.

Sakura was helping him with chakra control, something he desperately needed. His chakra control was sloppy at best and it wasn't a good thing even with such a large supply of it.

Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration and rushed the dummy again.

"Okay we're done."

Naruto tripped and went straight into the ground, the formed Rasengan shattered the earth, making a small crater.

Sakura winced.

Naruto laid in the dirt as Kagome and Sasuke ceased their sparring to look at what just happened.

Kagome skidded down the slope into the crater and flipped Naruto onto his back.

"Baka." She muttered as she looked over his dirt covered and scraped face.

"Ow." He groaned.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings." Kagome chastised as she slapped his forehead. "Now get up, we're done for the day."

"Ow." He said again.

"Sasuke." Kagome called. "Help me get him up." She slugged a orange-sleeved arm over her neck, surprisingly starting to lift Naruto, slowly but surely.

Sasuke strode down the slope of the crater, thus reaching the two of them.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked suddenly, popping his head out from his book.

"You were standing right there Kakashi-sensei." Sakura accused as Sasuke and Kagome dragged Naruto out of his self-made crater. "How could you have missed that?"

Kakashi shrugged and continued reading, not in the least bit concerned that one of his students was semi-unconscious.

"Naruto." Sakura slapped his cheek lightly as the two raven haired shinobi set him down. "Naruto!" She slapped him harder.

Kagome sent a swift kick to the ribs. "Baka."

He didn't move.

"He's out." Sasuke stated as the three of them stood over him. The late afternoon sun made their shadows stretch across the grass and Naruto's body.

Sakura knelt by him. "He might have a concussion." She stated as her hands hummed to life with a soft emerald hue.

"He might be dead." Sasuke said as he toed Naruto's unmoving body.

Kagome tensed.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura admonished.

"Baka." Kagome kicked him again. "Wake up."

He didn't move.

"If he doesn't wake up, he's going to the hospital." Sakura stated. "He doesn't have a concussion but I just want to make sure nothing else is wrong."

"Hn." Sasuke didn't seem too thrilled. "He's probably faking it."

"I don't think Naruto would-" Sakura was cut off by a rather loud exclamation.

"Konnichiwa chibi!"

It was then, miraculously, Naruto opened his eyes and narrowed them at one- Shunshin no Shisui.

"Chibi?" Sakura questioned, subconsciously realizing her eyes wandered over to smallest member of their group. Kagome rolled her eyes.

"You don't want to know." Sasuke said under his breath.

Within an instant Shisui was in front of Team 7 and their ANBU comrade, with a cocky grin plastered on his face.

Shisui tousled Kagome's hair. "You ready to go?"

"Nani?!" Naruto miraculously stood and was in front of Shisui. "You can't just take her."

"Clan said so…" Shisui shrugged. "Gomen whiskers, but chibi is comin' with me." And with that said, Shisui Uchiha swept Kagome off her feet and onto his shoulders and began to walk away.

"Oi!"

Shisui turned around. "You comin' gaki?" He said ignoring Naruto.

Sasuke walked casually alongside his cousin.

"Oi!" Naruto called again. "Where are you all going?"

"To dinner, obviously."

XxX

Now Kagome found she was quite in the middle of things-she sighed._ This was all so very troublesome._ She mentally cursed herself for even thinking like Shikamaru.

"You excited chibi? Oba-chan is a really good cook." Shisui asked with a grin.

She shrugged.

"I don't why you're following us whiskers? Be like pinky and scatter." Shisui said in his usual boisterous tenor but it held an underlying threat.

Naruto just crossed his arms and pouted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You're not invited dobe."

"I don't care; I walk as far as your front doorstep then."

Shisui ignored him as they all walked through the streets of Konoha. The dying sun casted an orange glow on everything and made their shadows stretch.

Shisui sniffed. "You smell good chibi."

Sasuke and Naruto were snapped out of their thoughts.

-

-

-

-

"You're done." Sasuke said simply as he took Kagome out of Shisui's grasp.

"What did I do?"

Soon Kagome was being handed around like a ragdoll as Naruto took Kagome onto his shoulders as Sasuke and he walked on ahead without him.

"Pedophile…" Naruto muttered.

"Aa." Sasuke agreed as they walked towards the Uchiha compound.

* * *

**Author's Ramble: **Okay this was rushed because I really wanted to post this on Itachi's birthday! June 9th people, go throw a party! Hehe…yeah, so Sasuke and Naruto think every guy around Kagome is a pedophile…weird I know. _(ponders)_ protective much? _(cackles)_ And so it begins!

Now for the real question-Where's the umbrella?

**Author's Note: **How's Itachi and Kagome's interaction? Okay?

Itachi is kind of psycho when it comes to fan girls, ne?

Sasuke seems…OOC to me. Bleh…It's hard to get him to talk…ya know? (head+wall)

Well I hope you all liked it! 12,000 words yay! 2k more than the last time! So 10 words from you the reader would be awesome! Am I asking too much?

~KK


	6. And the Koi Swam Over the Moon

**Author's Note:** Not much to say... lets get right into another 12k (35 page) beast to read! Thank you to all who show such amazing support through your awesome reviews! I love you all! (I'm serious XD)

So I hope you all enjoy a nice long read. (^-^) So go on and enjoy my hours of blood, sweat and tears!

Oh and you'll hate me by the end.

* * *

"_You're done." Sasuke said simply as he took Kagome out of Shisui's grasp. _

"_What did I do?"_

_Soon Kagome was being handed around like a ragdoll as Naruto took Kagome onto his shoulders, as Sasuke and he walked on ahead without Shisui. _

"_Pedophile…" Naruto muttered. _

"_Aa." Sasuke agreed as they walked towards the Uchiha compound. _

XxX

Kagome pulled lightly on the frayed blonde strands of hair. Naruto seemed to have a tiny piece tied back, it faintly reminded her of Itachi's. The splayed strands of gold reflected the orange glint of the setting sun as she twirled the golden lock around her finger.

The sun hung low in the darkening cloud streaked sky and as Kagome's shadowed eyes watched its descent, she found herself wishing that this day would last just a bit longer.

She almost laughed at her own momentary naïveté as she twirled the blonde lock around her finger once more, right before she heard it…

It was like a song, teasing her mind as it fleetingly played its nostalgic tune through her mindset.

"_Kagome, why do you look so sad?" _

And then the voice ceased just as suddenly as it began right before the image of a woman danced through her mind, dancing to the tune of her obscured memories.

Her hands froze as she focused on the thought, but just like always the recollection of her past disappeared along with her willingness to pursue it.

She sighed.

"Kagome?" Naruto turned his head slightly, making her pull on his hair.

She looked at him, his eyes halfway meeting hers. She said nothing as his blue eyes bore through her.

"You alright?"

She swallowed hard. "Nobody asked you." She flicked his head. "Baka."

"Well then can you stop pulling my hair?" He said theatrically, trying to goad a reaction out of her.

She smirked and then with one swift tug, yanked on his little lock of hair.

"Oi!" Naruto hollered as he winced from her pull. "So not cool."

"Why do you have your hair tied back like this, anyway?" Kagome mused as she tugged again, earning a wince from Naruto.

"Because my hair grows really fast." Naruto supplemented. "It gets in the way and as you can see…grows pretty wild."

Kagome nodded to that fact, as Naruto's hair was notoriously spiky.

"Looks more like a mullet to me."

Shisui suddenly materialized beside them, inspecting Naruto's hair with the same fascination as an eagle surveying the land for its prey.

"…No…definitely not Shisui." Naruto grounded out, not very pleased with the Uchiha's presence.

"I once considered the hairstyle myself…" Shisui began wistfully, recalling whatever memory that Kagome didn't care to know. "But of course I prefer the more regal look."

"Eh?" Naruto eye twitched. "You mean your ponytail?"

Kagome as well shot the Uchiha a strange glance.

"You call this paragon of masculinity a ponytail?" He held the tied back cord of dark charcoal colored hair, up for all too see.

Though she was surprised by Shisui's diverse use of vocabulary, she was annoyed with his expression on hairstyle.

In her opinion-hair was the most insignificant part of the human anatomy. She wished they were all just bald.

"Looks like a snake swallowed a porcupine." Naruto drawled, seeing that Shisui's hair was identical to Jiraiya's… _He is a pervert! _Naruto finally came to his epiphany.

"How would you know what that looks like?"

"How do you know what your face looks like?" Naruto retorted to Shisui.

Kagome heard Sasuke sigh heavily a few paces behind them.

"Baka." She brought a fist down on Naruto's head. "Shut it."

"You should be the last one talking chibi." Shisui accused the small ANBU.

Kagome glared at him. "What do you mean?" She said lowly, her murky blue eyes scanning over him.

"I mean just look at your hair!"

She unconsciously gripped a short lock of her cleanly cut hair.

"It looks like you cut it with a kunai." Shisui pointed out earning a growl from Naruto.

"I did." Kagome said simply as a kunai suddenly materialized in her palm and demonstrated by twirling her neck length hair in the other hand as she deftly cut it. It happened fast but Naruto watched as the individual strands were blown away by the wind.

A sharp blowing noise came from Shisui's mouth as he tried to blow away the dark strands off his nose. "Not cool chibi… not cool at all." He plucked a thread of black off his cheek.

She shrugged letting go of her hair, which now was a surprisingly even and short bob that splayed out slightly, as it framed her small face.

"Well at least you're practical." Shisui mused as he continued to walk along side of them; his footsteps were silent opposed to Naruto's swift footfalls that made the gravel crunch. Kagome noted how Sasuke was consciously silent as well. "Unlike gaki, over here." He jerked a thumb behind him to the now scowling Sasuke.

Naruto smirked; he knew this conversation always left Sasuke peeved.

"Oi Sasuke!" Shisui called back, his boisterous voice boomed through the streets of Konoha. "How long does it take you to do your hair in the morning?"

Sasuke glared.

Kagome looked back. "You do your hair?" She asked innocently.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

Naruto chuckled richly. "He spends like a half an hour every day trying to perfect that thing-" Naruto patted the back of his own head. "-so that it looks like a-" Shisui interrupted him along with obnoxious grin.

"A chicken's ass."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh that is- until the Uchiha Compound came into view.

His toothy simper fell and his steps slowed as it came into his sights; a few dark haired Uchiha residents entered their Clan's complex as the day slowly but surely melded into night.

A pair of guards posted at the entrance locked onto Naruto with a studying gaze and then looked onto Kagome with a wearisome one.

They were expecting her.

Shisui slapped Naruto on the shoulder. "Guess this is where your journey ends, whiskers."

Kagome kneed his hand off of Naruto's shoulder and shot him an icy glance.

Shisui stared up at her. "Why so cold chibi?"

Her blue eyes narrowed, the shadowing grey clouded over them, making her anomalous and light irises murky. It was the calm before the storm.

"Kagome." Sasuke said her name, snapping her out of her deathly mood.

She looked back at the Uchiha heir who had caught up to them. Sasuke's eyes locked with hers, his dark eyes then slid past her and landed on his gathering Clansmen-silently warning her that she was being watched and that any offense on an Uchiha would be an offense on the whole Clan.

She sighed heavily, knowing that somehow, someway- Shisui Uchiha had become a very prominent member of his pompous Clan and whatever punishment she had for him for casting aside Naruto…it would have to wait.

It was then she felt herself lifted off, ever so gently and all the more swiftly.

Kagome crossed her arms as Naruto held her out, at arms length, like a pouting child.

"Now Kagome-chan." Naruto began theatrically affectionate, earning a glare from the girl. "If any of those temes do _anything…" _He stressed the word. "…then you tell me…after you kill them."

"Then what will you do?" She asked with a bored tone.

"I'll kill them again."

"Isn't that a bit …redundant." She drawled and then her eyes looked up in a thoughtful gaze. "What happens if I can't kill them all or they drug me?"

"Then Sasuke-teme will protect you." Naruto said confidently earning a raised brow from said Uchiha. "Isn't that right teme? You can protect Kagome-chan from anyone."

Sasuke said nothing.

"I can protect chibi too!"

"Especially him Sasuke." Naruto tilted his head towards Shisui.

"Aa." Sasuke responded dispassionately as he was handed the pouting ANBU.

Kagome swore she felt the wind knocked out of her as Sasuke gripped her ribcage to swing her over his shoulders. The world blurred as she found herself sitting on Sasuke Uchiha's shoulders when her vision cleared.

Sasuke started to walk away.

Kagome looked back as Naruto threw up a defeated wave.

Shisui smirked. "Ja mullet!" And flickered out of sight.

"Oi!" Naruto exclaimed at thin air, earning strange glances from miscellaneous bystanders.

Naruto laughed nervously at the staring crowd as his eyes wandered over to Sasuke's departing back and Kagome-who was still looking back at him and he watched as she did something he did not expect...

He smiled; genuinely smiled the largest and most foolish smile right back at her due to the most simple and meager gesture.

And it was all because she waved back.

XxX

"Cheer up chibi." Shisui pleaded as he walked alongside a tense Sasuke and peeved Kagome. "It's not so bad…just don't get on Fugaku-sama's bad side like you did this morning. I don't want to have _accidently_ kill you on a mission…" The morbid joke didn't fall under Kagome's category of funny, not much ever did, but she did take some truth out of that statement.

Kagome sighed heavily and loudly and exasperatedly, right as she propped an elbow on Sasuke's head. Resting her head on her hand Kagome sighed _again._

She couldn't hurt Shisui in any way, shape or form…unless she wanted a whole pack of crazed Uchihas chasing after her with the intent to kill.

Kagome looked at the staring Clansmen; she knew that her mind was subconsciously coming up with a virtually undetectable genjutsu at the moment; it was reeling with the possible torments and tortures as she closed her eyes to try and pinpoint Shisui's cerebral nervous system's chakra flow…

_Found it…_

"I wonder what oba-chan is making tonight?" Shisui mused obliviously to himself.

She sighed heavily as she opened her eyes. _Forget it._

Shisui shot her a friendly grin unbeknownst to him as to what fate awaited him if Kagome had just extended her chakra flow.

"We're here." Sasuke stated; his deep voice resonated from his chest.

Kagome looked down, her finger subconsciously grazed over Sasuke's spiked hair. There was definitely hair gel involved.

"You really do, do your hair." Kagome observed as she poked Sasuke in the back of the head feeling the crunch.

"I told you." Shisui said snidely.

Kagome felt the shift in Sasuke's tense shoulders and before he could flip her off of him, she was already standing before the Uchiha.

"No need to get cantankerous Uchiha." She chided slightly.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the young girl and then a smirk etched itself on his face.

"Shisui." Sasuke's eyes still on Kagome as he seemingly gave the cue.

Shisui smirked. "You get the arms and I'll get the legs."

Kagome tensed. "You will do no such thing."

"Already did." Shisui said with a cocky smirk.

She looked down- her legs were bound.

"Impressive, ne?" Shisui twirled the remaining rope around his finger. "They don't call me Shunshin no Shisui for nothing."

It was impressive but right now she was livid, all she needed was simple hand seal and he would be cast into a rather simplistic but ever so painful genjustu.

That is… if her hands weren't bound.

Sasuke smirked as he tucked away the wire.

"Wow chibi-you're a bit rusty. I mean…. even gaki gotcha."

"You will regret this." She said lowly, her eyes gleaning with murderous intent.

"I regret many things." Shisui commented lightly as he grasped Kagome's slight shoulders and dragged her. "C'mon gaki."

Sasuke sighed as he gripped her slender ankles and walked in harmony with Shisui as they carried a bound Kagome.

Kagome looked at him with a blank slate of a face. "Do you know I can place a genjustu on you that will leave you in a comatose state for a week and an insomniac for three months?" She said simply, her emotionless tenor was disturbing, Sasuke sighed.

People were staring.

Of course seeing two very well known Uchiha carrying a small girl who was bound like caught game would make anyone momentarily pause and wonder why. Of course Shisui's and Sasuke's stature kept their fellow kinsmen from questioning and thus the two proceeded to carry their 'catch' home.

Kagome sighed, on a normal day- both Uchihas would be unconscious or maybe even screaming; but to be honest, she was so tired right now it was hard to even think.

She had trained quite tirelessly these past two days and to be honest, she wasn't sure what was keeping her up at the moment except for sheer will power alone. She guessed it was her body's natural acclimation to her insomniac tendencies.

But now, it was concerning…her reflexes were slow and her senses shot from lack of rest and a proper meal. It was bad enough this morning, with Itachi commenting on her slow reaction to leaving the populated area and Shikamaru's aggravation at her being late. Yes. Her whole day was off and it didn't help matters when Sasuke activated his Sharingan…

It was only a matter of time before he questioned her on it.

Repressing the thought, she closed her eyes and listened to the wind…

"_My beautiful Kagome…oh why do you look so sad?" _

Her eyes shot open as her breath caught and her heart leaped to life with a thunderous beat.

_I must have blacked out. _She thought, feeling her limbs tingle and numb.

Clouds passed overhead in the dying light of the descending sun, the pink sky was glazed over by their warm hued smears and streaks as it was framed by verandas and other structures that passed overhead.

Her eyes flittered over to meet Sasuke's studying gaze, he always seemed to be watching her. Whether it was by curiosity or suspicion she didn't know.

_Probably both. _She concluded.

"What is it, Uchiha?" She snapped.

"You're exhausted." Sasuke stated coldly as he shifted his grip.

Shisui casually glanced back to them, his stare was fleeting and swift, assessing the situation and thus speaking. "We're here, chibi." Breaking up whatever conversation the two of them were about to have.

Sasuke's eyes lifted up from her. His bored half-lidded gaze sharpened and he narrowed his eyes. Kagome wondered why he stared so darkly at his home.

Soon she was brought through the entryway that marked the head family's residence, which displayed the Clan's symbol on the same billowing blue fabric that hung off the archway.

Soon the familiar tap of a bamboo fountain reached her ears as she carried to the front entrance. She noted a small flare of chakra; Shisui let his presence be known. Not that it was really necessary but it was… polite, in a sense.

Both tossing off their shoes, they entered the manor swiftly.

"Oba-chaaaan!" Shisui called, his booming voice echoing throughout the manor.

They walked through the dark hallways until they reached the dining area. Mikoto popped into view as Kagome was lifted up between the two Uchihas.

"Look what we caught." Shisui bragged as he lifted Kagome even higher. "Can we keep it?" He asked obnoxiously.

Mikoto laughed lightly until her eyes locked onto Kagome's lightly sallow complexion and drooping eyes.

"Kami, she looks sick!" Mikoto exclaimed matronly and soon Kagome found her bindings slashed and body coddled over.

Mikoto picked up the girl with one arm and whisked her away to another room.

"Good job gaki." Shisui accused. "Now we're in trouble."

Sasuke sighed. "We didn't do anything… she's just tired."

"She is?"

"She passed out while we were carrying her." Sasuke drawled.

Shisui was already gone and hollering apologies to his precious 'chibi' down the hall.

Sasuke followed but in a much more composed gait.

His mother apparently had brought her into a guest room, at least that's where Sasuke found them; with Kagome on the large futon, Mikoto checking her temperature and Shisui professing his regret for tying her up.

Sasuke leaned against the doorway and watched as Kagome simply let her eyes glaze over.

She was numb.

Shisui's voice seemed like a distant echo and Mikoto's prods seemed like a secondary touch, she felt like she was experiencing the world secondhand.

"Kagome?" Mikoto was shaking her.

Her eyes snapped over to her.

"You're exhausted dear, why don't you rest until dinner." She offered kindly.

Kagome tensed immediately as she sat erect now, her eyes alert and her voice firm. "No."

Mikoto seemed taken back. "Alright… how about a bath then?" She proposed optimistically.

Kagome mulled it over and with one quick sniff to her underarm, she consented.

She always loved baths anyways.

XxX

All she heard was the resounding beat of her heart.

The water carried the rhythmic sound to her ears; she inhaled deeply and heard her lungs engulf themselves with air. Exhaling, her breath was only thick vapor in the darkening onsen. The sun's retreating rays slanted through the opaque window, making the deep carmine lines stretch over the wood and into the water. Staining both the ever so morbid color.

Inhaling once more Kagome submersed her surfaced face into the warm depths. Opening her eyes, she exhaled and let herself sink to the very bottom.

She could see the distorted beams of red light, shining through the waters. Curtains of black flowed eerily in her vision until she brushed away her ebony locks. She brought both hands to her scalp and scrubbed her freshly cut hair and then she surfaced with a sharp gasp. Her fingers trailed along her hairline, tucking away stray pieces and feeling the silky strands slide between her fingers.

Tucking the last piece behind her ear, Kagome stood with a sudden rush of water followed by the echoing of tiny drips pattering against the water's surface.

It was humid in the Uchiha's private onsen, the thick vapor rose lazily off the steamy water as the air was cool around it, making her skin become chilled suddenly.

Kagome stepped out, tiny rivulets splattered against the smooth wood. She grabbed a towel, which was folded in a basket, and wrapped it around her as well as dried her short hair with a smaller one.

She dressed quickly, Mikoto let her have a selection of yukatas but Kagome was just too small to fit into any of them, so she picked out a simple cotton sundress. The white dress was the smallest thing the Matriarch owned and even that hung past her ankles, skimming the floor as she walked.

Opening the shoji screen, it revealed a rather secluded walkway back to the main household. Kagome entered the manor soundlessly as she passed through the dark halls. Her figure ghosted past a mirror, making her pause for a moment and examine herself.

Her short hair was pushed back, leaving her face fully exposed and not obscured by her bangs. Her eyes narrowed and so did the reflection's. The girl who looked back at Kagome looked foreign.

Her short hair clung to the back of her neck, leaving the blatant contrast between ivory skin and ebony hair. A few dark strands clutched onto her damask stained cheeks like a raven's claws. Her lips as well, were splattered with the slight pink and then there were her eyes.

Those anomalous eyes, they were strange to her. They were so immense for such a petite face, being so iridescent and yet so dull at the same time. They held grey and also blue; the two contrasting colors mixed seamlessly, making her eyes into murky pools of storm clouds.

"Hn." She grunted at the girl in the mirror.

The girl looked too frail and every moment she looked at this hollow shell of a reflection, it seemed to melt more and more into a hideous ashen replicate that utterly disgusted her.

"You're weak." She bit out, seeing the girl's eyes shift and the blue drain out. The pools of grey swirled and mixed like a rolling storm.

She turned away… sharply away from the weak girl leaving her alone in the dark hallway.

As she approached the dining area she heard voices.

Leaning against the dark hallway, she listened intently on the conversation that was being had at the dinner table.

"Hai, but what is her ultimate goal? I want to know her true motives before having her oversee your training Sasuke." It was an unfamiliar voice; it was sharp and rude, as if putting Sasuke back in his place.

"This is why my affairs are my own, Inabi." She could hear the tenseness in his voice. She smirked, Sasuke was pissed. "The Clan should trust my judgment and not idly question it."

"_We_ are concerned Sasuke." Kagome frowned at Fugaku's interruption.

There was a lengthy pause.

"Your judgment has already been questioned once before… due to your current… company." The one known as Inabi spoke.

"Has it?" He retorted smoothly, his voice took on the deathly gentleness that was familiar to Itachi's.

"And what is it, do you suspect Inabi?" She knew that voice, though it was much more serious. Shisui's voice was no longer boisterous but rather leveled and quite intimidating with his deep baritone resonating strongly.

"Many things." He snubbed. "Do you honestly think she is doing this out of the kindness of her own heart?" Inabi said with a bitter laugh. "She is affiliated with Nara, that pathetic excuse for a Clan has her registered as a member. All it takes is for her to beguile_ one_ of our kinsmen and then we have tainted bastard child on our hands."

As soon as those words left his mouth Kagome heard the sudden screech of a table being pushed across wood and Shisui's booming voice. "That's just fuckin' disgusting!" He exclaimed, she could just picture Shisui standing over them all. "She's just a kid!"

"No one should be underestimated by their age." Itachi's cold voice cut through the conversation like a cold blade, slicing Shisui's anger and thus killing it.

_He would know._ Kagome mused as she crossed her arms. This conversation was fascinating.

"Neither should they be glorified for their intelligence or put under such intense suspicion." Came a gruff voice, the tone held age. "I do not think that she is an immediate threat nor do I view her as trustworthy." He paused. "But I do think she should be allowed to continue training, so that her true motives play out under our watchful _eyes_."

Now she couldn't help but laugh.

The room grew silent as she walked in, her eyes locked onto the Fugaku and his two kinsmen, who were seated on one side of the table while Itachi, Sasuke and Shisui sat… somewhat civilly across. Their three dark presences made her cringe almost. The three of them looked positively deadly.

She silenced her sardonic chortle but let the simper linger. "You honestly think I have any interest in this Clan?" Her steps were silent as she walked in, like an ethereal ghost she looked like.

"You tell us." Inabi said suddenly. "You can't possibly tell us that this out of charity, to instruct our dear…_heir_." His facetious behavior wasn't helping her already waning patience.

Sasuke's jaw locked hard, she could see the cords of tendon in his neck strain and his shoulders tense.

"You are absolutely right, I am doing this for my own benefit…" She laughed coldly. "…though I can assure it isn't to… _beguile_ Sasuke or any other Uchiha for that matter."

"Then please, indulge us so that we may find a solution." The white haired man spoke.

"I do not think it is any of your concern."

"I think it is." Fugaku spoke firmly.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "I have access to Kakashi Hatake." She said simply. "So don't flatter yourself into thinking that I would want anything to do with _this_ pathetic Clan… let alone lay with one of its members."

"Such insolence!" Inabi stood abruptly. "I should cut you where you stand." He gritted out lowly.

"I'd like to see you try." She taunted smoothly. "I'll slice you to ribbons."

Inabi grabbed his cheek, a clean slit sliced right through his tanned flesh. He placed a hand over it, blood seeped heavily.

Sasuke stood along with Shisui as soon as he felt the surge of Wind chakra.

Kagome seemed to have no need of hand seals to channel it and thus cut.

With blood drawn Fugaku stood as well as Yashiro. Both experienced clansmen ready to put this brat in her place.

Sasuke didn't want to have just stand there and watch.

Sasuke tensed as Kagome crouched, like a cat about to pounce on a mouse.

_Damn it._ He didn't want to have attack either.

And Itachi and Shisui were just going to let her!

Sasuke for once, prayed…

Prayed that something would happen to stop this fight, to stop his idiotic family members from being killed and to stop Kagome from getting into a shit load of trouble.

And for once his prayers were answered.

Because Kagome's eyes rolled back and she fell straight back onto the hard floor with a resounding smack.

And Sasuke just stared with wide eyes.

"Chibi?" Shisui's deep voice was hoarse weak.

Sasuke slowly turned around to see Itachi staring as well.

He really did it now.

-

-

-

He killed Kagome.

-

-

-

"Fuck my life."

XxX

"_Kagome, why do you look so sad?" _

_-_

_-_

_-_

_Tiny feet tangled over the small glistening pond, a few brilliantly colored koi swam lazily about as a small hand threw a cluster of pellets into the water. The tiny bits floated on the little ripples of the water's shimmering surface. She felt laughter bubble up from her tummy as she giggled innocently as the fish gulped furiously for the food. _

_She turned around to see a woman, dressed in a flurry of red and white. _

"_My beautiful Kagome…oh why do you look so sad?" Her theatric voice was like a bell, ringing out melodically sweet. _

_The woman's face was a blur. _

"_I don't look sad." She heard her small cheery voice retort cutely. _

_She knew the faceless woman was smiling as she knelt beside her. She had the same dark hue of hair as she did, but it was wavier and longer. "Not on the outside, you don't." The woman's long elegant hands patted her small and pudgy ones. "But on the inside, you do…you're very good at keeping people out." _

"_I-_

She awoke with a gasp of air so sharp it burned her throat.

She sat up suddenly.

Her heartbeat was erratic.

Kagome placed a hand on her cheek; cold sweat had formed rivulets on her skin, plastering her dark hair to her pallid flesh.

Her breathing was coarse and fleetingly rhythmic.

_Where am I?_

She looked around.

It was dark.

Except for the silver ethereal light the moon gave off which gave her the only light she needed. Her eyes were flittering about, seeing her body swaddled in a thick duvet of silk, fine threaded sheets and down filled pillows.

The air was cold.

Her eyes adjusted further and she saw that she was in the guest room that Mikoto had taken her to earlier.

Her mind traced from there quickly remembering that her bath, the conversation she eavesdropped on, the argument with the Uchiha Head and his pawns… She remembered how she cut his cheek with the slightest bit of Wind chakra and how they all stood…staring…at her…

"Sharingan." She whispered so faintly that not even she heard her own voice.

Maybe it was the fact that she had barely eaten or hadn't slept for the past two days or trained rigorously with Sasuke and Naruto… and just maybe seeing the Sharingan really overdid it… but that all didn't matter because it still didn't change the fact that she _fainted._

She winced. That was embarrassing.

"Hn." The grunt came from nowhere in the darkness.

Her eyes suddenly locked onto a figure.

Her eyes widened at the sight of _him_ sitting across the room. His stare never blinking as his dark gaze lay on her with the same familiar weight as before.

"U-Uchiha…san?"

His lips twitched as he blinked languidly.

Chakra was not present, there was no signature coming from him. His suppression of chakra was impressive and yet disturbing at the same time. Like a flower with no scent, he shouldn't have been there… but he was, because Itachi Uchiha was a deathly force.

Her eyes flittered over to the doorway.

It was faint, only one with her _skills_ would have detected it.

An imperceptible but extremely strong genjutsu of various layers and complexity hovered over the doorway. Like an ominous cloud of chakra ready to strike anyone who passes through it.

Which meant one thing.

He didn't want anyone to disrupt whatever he had planned.

It would be mendacious to say that she didn't feel a pang of fear shoot through her chest and up her throat, making her ask the obvious. "You watch me while I sleep?"

"I have questions." He stated.

"What… happened?" She asked cautiously.

His lips twitched upward, obviously amused that she had just asked a question. "You fainted."

"I know that." She snapped. "What happened after?"

"Shisui and Sasuke tended to you while I escorted Inabi and Yashiro out." He said simply, his voice was chilling in the dark. "I've never heard Sasuke use such language nor have I seen him so… anxious." His eyes gleamed.

"It seems you don't know much about him then." She crossed her arms. "From what I have observed, he's extremely emotional."

"Aa." Itachi mused. "Though… my otouto did tell me something rather interesting."

"And what would that be?" She hissed, like a threatened cat.

"That you fear the Sharingan."

She swallowed hard.

"You don't deny this?"

She said nothing, as her eyes narrowed at the casually sitting Uchiha before her. His arms draped over the armrests and his legs were crossed; his predatory eyes watched her dispassionately but ever so analytically.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"I'm assuming you don't know why you fear it." He brought a hand to cup his cheek. "That is why it frustrates you."

"Don't play games with me. Get to the point." She grounded out.

-

-

-

"I want to know your past."

She let a breath go that she didn't realize she was holding. "W-What?" She choked out. "Why do you care?' She said more forcefully.

"Curiosity." Itachi's eyes closed as he leaned his head back. "I've seen many things in my life… but nothing quite. Like. _You."_ He opened them again. "You are a novelty." He said simply.

"I can't." She whispered sharply.

He raised his brows slightly and she watched as they knotted together, furrowing at her refusal.

"I can't…remember." Kagome finally mustered up the words. "I-I…" She took a deep breath. "I remember things that most can't. If I talk to someone, I can recall the date, years later and even tell you how many cracks were in the sidewalk that we were standing on…I can recall things clearly with barely any forethought, my memory is impeccable but… I can't remember even my own mother's face." Her voice crumbled as she was seemingly defeated by her lack of memories as she looked down from his eyes. "But… they come back to me. Short flashbacks of the life I once had but they are so…vague and unclear." She looked back up at him. "Do you know how frustrating that is? I try so hard and all I get are meaningless images that tell me _nothing."_

"You are overlooking their significance. They obviously coincide with your life; they are messages trying to teach you something that you simply repress."

"How would you know?" She snapped at him sharply.

"Because you talk in your sleep." He retorted darkly bitter. "Your memories are symbolic."

"I don't want to remember." Kagome said, her voice had risen suddenly.

"Why?" His voice was sharp and cold.

"Because I know…"Her voice deflated as suddenly as it had risen. "…I know my mother is dead and I know it was probably because of me." She muttered, breaking his gaze once more. "I read the report upon entering ANBU. I was found by Shikaku ten years ago, covered in blood that held a maternal match. The amount on me would have been fatal and it covered my front meaning…"

"That it is highly possible for you to be responsible." Itachi supplemented knowingly.

Kagome's eyes widened, her opalescent blue eyes stared at his gleaming black. He had already read the report upon her finding and thus determined the same thing.

"Then you know why." She said numbly. "What kind of sick freak am I?" Her voice was seeping with self-disgust. "I was abandoned by own family and thrown down a well because I was not even worthy enough to be killed."

"You're making assumptions." He jutted in smoothly.

"It still doesn't change the fact!" She her voice had risen suddenly.

"Change what?" His voice stabbed her like a blade.

Her words would not come out.

"What doesn't it change?" His dark gaze locked onto her, like a wolf about to devour its prey. "What fuels this ridiculous façade?" His voice was smooth but his eyes burned her with a cold fury. "What makes you …so angry and miserable?"

Silence hung stagnantly in the air.

"I'm… alone." Her voice was hollow. "If I died… I would be forgotten and no one would mourn my life."

"Is this what you want?"

"…No."

"So you fear death? You wish to cling to life." His words were like perverse poetry.

She stared at him, mulling over her thoughts until her answer came forth.

"No… I don't want to live."

Itachi stood; his dark enigmatic form dwarfed her.

His steps were intentionally silent as he moved ghostly towards her, standing above the side of the bed. His hand shot out like a snake and his fingers like fangs gripped her neck. Sinking into flesh and constricting tightly.

It hurt.

He hit her with so much force, Kagome was sure her neck snapped. He slammed her skull making it hit the headboard.

He brought his lips to her ear as his hands tightened sharply around her slender neck.

He whispered low and cold. "Do you fear it now?"

Her heartbeat remained steady.

The fangs of the snake sunk in, ready to take life and devour its prey.

Her vision speckled with dark clouds as her ears began to ring.

The beat of her heart quickened but there was no fear. "I…I know you won't."

"You underestimate me." His icy tone chilled to the bone as he squeezed even tighter.

-

-

-

-

-

"I trust you."

She whispered hoarsely, wasting her last bit of air on those words.

Itachi tilted his head, bringing his eyes to meet hers. He was so close.

Kagome truly saw his face for what seemed to be the first time.

His predatory eyes were framed by angular lashes that were dragged down by the hollowness of his features; his eyes had sunken in, leaving lavender flesh to slack under them thus giving him those two very prominent and very pronounced nose ridges. His straight nose and gaunt cheek bones sported ashen skin that was tanner than Sasuke's but seemed paler now, it was then she noticed how greatly laced it was with fine white fibers. Like countless fine white threads, they overlapped one another.

His face was heavily scarred.

Something inside of her plummeted.

Her eyes flickered to his hands; seeing that they too held the countless nicks and scratches that accompanied every shinobi.

"Don't." She felt his breath on her cheek.

He ripped his hands away after speaking; she felt the sting of scratches on her neck.

She gasped unconsciously for air.

Itachi sat heavily on the bed, his body turned away from her and his face was obscured by his dull slate colored hair. His body slunk as he ran his fingers through his bangs.

"I said I would never judge you Uchiha-san."

"Judgment is not the same as trust." He said coldly.

"You've never had someone truly trust you." Kagome said as she rubbed her already aching neck as her ears pounded. "Just as I do not know why the Sharingan frightens me, you have no one who truly trusts you…so it frustrates you."

"I just strangled you and you advocate my trustworthiness…"He closed his eyes for a long moment and then reopened them. "Your logic is truly flawed Higurashi-san."

"Say what you will, but I trust you and that's something I haven't done in a very long time." She then crossed her arms. "So don't get all hung up on it, I'm listening to your advice now."

"And that would be?"

"To find the meaning to my memories." She snubbed. "And this affects you too, so you're not getting off easy… by any means." Her statement ended in a threat.

"And how would this affect me?"

Kagome's eyes glanced up in thought and then landed on Itachi's form. "Because…we're friends." She said, as if stating the obvious.

Itachi's lips twitched into a slight smile.

"Are we now?"

XxX

The only sound made was the distinctive slurping of soup.

Kagome placed down the bowl on the tray, her anomalous cerulean eyes glanced over to the crouching Itachi.

The two were by the head family's koi pond. Kagome bundled up in a soft throw blanket as she ate the leftovers of the untouched dinner and with Itachi beside her. The light of moon cast its ethereal hue over their forms as it made the pond shimmer silver. It was like a ghostly snow had fallen, freezing the two of them into doing something so simplistic when their lives were obviously so… complicated.

Itachi uncurled his long fingers over the glistening pond, letting a few pellets fall into the placid waters. Then suddenly a group of speckled koi of lurched furiously at the water's surface to devour the bits of food.

"Do you ever feed them?" Kagome asked as the koi zealously went after the pellets.

"It's Sasuke's responsibility." Itachi informed, obviously hinting that his brother was slacking.

Kagome smirked. "They need to be fed during the summer more often, about three times a day." She instructed softly. She tightened the blanket around her form and sat more comfortably on the grass as her feet grazed the stone shoreline.

"I will inform my otouto then." Itachi said in his familiar formal diction as he sat down as well.

Kagome watched as a fat orange koi surfaced as it sucked in more air then food. She raised a brow at the clumsiness and stupidity of the animal. "Do they have names?" She asked curiously.

Itachi was silent for a moment making Kagome's eyes glance over to him. Her eyes studied his seemingly relaxed posture. His legs were crossed while his long fingered hands were placed over his knees. His back was straight and his eyes were closed. From his unperturbed expression and rhythmic breathing, Kagome knew he was meditating.

His eyes opened slowly. "Only a few."

"What about the fat orange one?"

Itachi's lips melded into a slight smile. "Pumpkin."

"Hn." She grunted amusedly and then leaned forward. Her small hand reaching out from the blanket and hovered over the water; she placed her small pale hand evenly on the water's surface.

The next moment, a column of water shot up and suspended the dozen fish right before them.

"What about this one?" She said as she removed her hand from the water's surface. She waved her hand which brought a strong gush of water forth in the column and brought an orange speckled koi to the front.

"It doesn't have a name."

"Why not?"

"Sasuke said it was too ugly to be titled."

Kagome scrunched her nose. "I'm naming it then." The fish stared obliviously at Kagome, its mouth bobbed involuntarily as it was held in place by Kagome's chakra.

"Migoto." She finally stated and then with a wave of the hand a new fish was brought before them. "And this one." She gestured to the charcoal colored one with a neon underbelly.

"Stinky." Itachi stated impassively with a smirk as he raised his own hand and waved it- bringing another fish forward.

Kagome scowled at him. "If I knew you were Water natured, I would not have used such a simple technique." With that said, the column lifted and contorted into a hovering ring where each fish swam circularly above the pond.

Itachi felt the Wind chakra suspending the water ring, something she managed to maintain with no hand seal and barely any concentration. He deftly waved his hand again, focusing the Water chakra to bring forth the same fish he had selected before. Itachi's eyes flittered over to her, studying how the moon's light made the water's rippling shadow encompass her eerily and made her murky eyes into an undulating silver.

"Well?" She said impatiently, her eyes locked onto him. "It's your turn."

Itachi's eyes glanced at the pale koi that was outlined by the moon's glow.

"Tsukuyomi."

Kagome's brow furrowed. "Isn't that sacrilegious?"

Itachi said nothing as Kagome continued to name a few more koi until it was his turn once more.

Another fish, he had to name. This was such a ridiculous waste of time but he conceded to title the pure black fish with a billowing tail. Its elegant fins flowing with the current, like black flames…

"Amaterasu." He said fluently.

Kagome brushed off his extravagant titles and proceeded to name the rest of the fish until the last one was brought up. It was the largest of the koi, with its flowing tail and grayish blue hue he named it- "Susanoo."

Kagome scowled at him. "You should have named him Kumo." She gripped the cup of steaming tea that was on the tray between them. Cupping it in her hands she sipped the saccharine liquid.

"You look exhausted." She pointed out as she set down the cup again. "You should go to bed."

Itachi's eyes never left the moonlit ring of fish hovering overhead. "As should you."

Kagome stiffened. "I don't like to sleep." Her eyes drifted over to meet his intense stare. "Sometimes… my dreams aren't always of my unforgotten childhood…" He didn't speak his thoughts-

_You're still in your childhood. _

"Sometimes I dream of other things." She whispered darkly.

"And that would be of?"

"I am on probation because I was viewed as emotionally unfit for duty… which all started when I was I assigned to a mission…"

"This mission made you-"

"A depressed, suicidal and an emotionally unstable insomniac." She cut in bitterly. "As you can see."

Itachi said nothing.

"I never thought I would feel this way." She muttered as she tightened the blanket around her. "You all make it look so easy…" She looked at Itachi with a pleading look. "Why do I see their faces almost every night?" She asked hoarsely. "I only took two lives while you must have taken hundreds and look at me!" She said sharply. "I'm pathetic!" Her eyes began to glisten.

Itachi raised his hand lethargically and hovered two long fingers in front of her forehead.

_Poke_

"Tears do not solve problems." He said brusquely "Neither does self-pity." He ran his fingers through his bangs. "And human nature is not pathetic."

She looked away. "Gomen."

Itachi tilted his head in puzzlement.

"I didn't mean to go off like that." Kagome murmured guiltily. "I still envy you though." She admitted.

"You envy and trust a monster…your logic is truly flawed Higurashi-san."

"And how many times do I have to keep on saying to stop calling yourself such awful things Uchiha-san?" She retorted lightly.

"Get some rest." He ordered evenly.

She didn't reply.

His head turned and locked onto her still form. She was curled up on the grass, swaddled in the plush blanket and seemingly asleep.

"Uchiha-san?"

"Hm?" He grunted lightly.

"If I wake up screaming psychotically… it's your fault." She added seriously.

"I will wake you before that happens." Itachi promised smoothly.

Kagome smiled slightly. "That's creepy…" She murmured incoherently.

Her breathing evened out and Itachi noted how she was able to maintain the hovering ring of water overhead while asleep.

His eyes glanced over her sleeping figure, the moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the ring like some ghostly halo that held dark figures gliding through its circumlunar current.

It's rippling silver shadow encompassed her like an undulating ghostly snow.

Itachi lay on the damp grass and felt his chest grow heavy with weary. His eyes dully focused on the darkened figures swimming through the night sky until they finally closed.

He fell asleep to the beautiful sound of rushing water and her calm reassuring breaths…

XxX

Kagome's eyes snapped open.

The irritating sound of chirping birds reached her ears and so did the sound of clinging dishware from the kitchen.

_Kitchen? _She thought semi-coherently. _Where am I?_ She shot up suddenly.

She looked down; she was wrapped in a silken duvet and was in the guest room she was in last night. Though it was much lighter she noted as a thick beam of morning light shot through the room and Kagome could see the tiny illuminated dust specks floating through.

Her eyes suddenly landed on the spot where Itachi had been sitting the night before.

She flung the silken covers off of her and walked swiftly to the other side of the room. Her hand touched the back of the chair.

_Still warm._ She mused as she looked down to see a pair of fresh clothes.

_What a creeper._ She thought again as she examined the clothing.

It was all hers except for the fresh bindings and protective mesh.

She usually didn't wear such… cliché ninja attire but she would indulge him and wear it…

She dressed quickly, putting on her combat pants and wrapping the bindings around her chest… she looked in the mirror and her eyes examined her bound torso.

"Where did those come from?" She said absently, realizing it was only a matter of time before she started getting breasts. Shrugging, she put on the protective mesh that was a little loose on her but covered her arms adequately.

Pulling her black tank over, she looked at her dressed form in the mirror.

She ran a hand through her bangs tousling them a bit, to give them the desired effect until her eyes widened at her neck…

"Shit." She cursed.

She brought a hand to her slender neck; purple and black plagued the skin as sickly greenish outlines wafted across her collar bone.

"Great." She said to the girl in the mirror facetiously. "Now what?" She asked her reflection.

She thought for a moment and then opened the door of her room revealing the hallway. _Itachi did this…and Itachi is going to fix it. _

The moment she stepped out was the moment she heard the door adjacent to her open.

She reacted fast. Kagome flipped and focused chakra to her feet as she silently walked up the wall and onto to the ceiling. She crouched on all fours as she then applied chakra to her hands as well; her eyes watched as Sasuke exited what apparently was his bedroom.

His steps were heavy as they thudded against the wood floors and his eyes were virtually closed as he stepped into the hallway. Wearing only dark blue pajama pants, he stretched languorously and Kagome watched as he walked obliviously to the other side of the hall.

Opening the door and flipping on the light Sasuke looked into the bathroom mirror and stared at his own bare chest. Kagome rolled her eyes. _Narcissist._ She thought as curiosity got the better of her when he picked up a bottle of hair gel. Kagome spared a quick glance to the back of his head, its usual spiky texture was limp and she noticed how it was parted unevenly. A simple problem to be fixed if he let his hair grow out but Sasuke was never one to copy his brother- especially on hairstyle. Kagome raised a brow when Sasuke began the tedious process of doing his hair, his hands moving duteously over his scalp.

Having the satisfaction that Sasuke Uchiha really did do his hair, Kagome proceeded to creep along the ceiling, following Itachi's chakra signature down the hall to a room next to Sasuke's.

The door remained closed until Itachi casually opened it with his eyes intently locked on her. "Ohayo Higurashi-san." He greeted smoothly.

Kagome launched herself over his head and into his room with barely any sound except for a soft thud.

And just as nonchalantly Itachi had opened the door, he closed it and turned towards Kagome.

She stood and pointed to her neck. "How the hell am I going to explain this?" She snapped, if Naruto saw this…she cringed at the thought.

Itachi's eyes narrowed at the bruise, he obviously didn't expect such a contusion. "Can you heal it?" He asked, his voice was tense.

"Medical ninjutsu is simply cell regeneration; even if I repaired the vessels the spilt blood is what causing the discoloration. You cannot simply get rid of contusions." She explained.

Itachi ran his fingers through his hair.

"Don't get so stressed." Kagome reprimanded sharply.

Itachi looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"You do this." She ran a hand through her bangs in a much more exaggerated fashion. "When you get stressed… so stop doing it and give me something else to where."

Itachi's eyes landed on the closet.

Kagome was already opening it, looking through the various shirts for anything that might obscure the neck. She sighed. "I just need something temporary...until I get back to my apartment." She looked back at Itachi who was sitting on his neatly made futon.

"What's with you?" She asked with a raised brow.

Itachi stared at his hands for a long moment and then looked back up at her.

Kagome flickered in front of him and poke his forehead. "Now you're finally guilty over something?" She gave him a pointed look. "I'm sure you've done a lot worse then bruise someone…" She muttered.

"I acted out of line last night." He said lowly.

"Aa…you did." She agreed honestly. "But you did what had to be done… personally though; a good puncture wound next to the aorta would have done the job and would have been much easier to cover up."

His face was still expressionless. "I'll keep that in mind." He retorted darkly acrimonious.

Kagome swallowed hard. He was intimidating to say the least and seemingly unapproachable when like this. He looked… deadly.

"Why are you in full ANBU gear?" She asked, trying to get his mind off his self-loathing.

"The AssassinationSquad had simulation training this morning." And being one of the unit's captains he was obviously there.

"How long have you been up?"

"Four hours." He said lightly.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Kagome sat on his bed.

He said nothing.

"You look more rested than before." She noted his eyes weren't so hollow nor was his complexion so pale. He _must have slept well._ Kagome figured as she approached the closet again.

"If you feel that bad… go get me some vinegar or parsley." Kagome instructed sternly.

Itachi didn't move; anyone who knew the basics of medical practices knew that what she just said was only a menial remedy and wouldn't help due to the extent of the bruise.

Kagome sighed as she plucked a black shirt from his closet. A high collared Uchiha emblazoned shirt that she quickly put over her tank, bindings and protective mesh.

Kagome looked around Itachi's room. It was neat and somewhat bare. The futon that he was sitting on had charcoal colored bedding; the low writing desk had a few papers out.

They were blank of course, a simple genjutsu that only permitted the user to see.

Her eyes wandered over to the bookshelf. It encompassed the whole wall.

She approached it, her fingers grazing the leather bindings and yellowing scrolls. "Read much?" The small ANBU chided lightly.

Itachi just watched her.

Kagome tilted her head at him. He wasn't talking to her at the moment. She narrowed her eyes.

Kagome approached his window. The morning light was brilliant on her face, making her eyes glimmer and skin glow. Her eyes never left the window as she spoke. "Tell Mikoto-san that I have breakfast plans elsewhere."

Itachi said nothing.

"And get some sleep." And just like that she was gone.

And once again he conceded to the foolish girl.

XxX

Sakura gritted her teeth.

Her brows furrowed as tiny rivulets formed on her infamous forehead. She looked at what lay before her with such intensity that it made the blazing sun seem like but a dull flicker.

She narrowed her eyes. _The fate of Konoha lies in my hands…_

She looked at the man in front of her, his smile was wicked and his eyes dark as his lips turned into a murderous smile. He let out a bloodcurdling laugh as he waited for her next move.

It all came down to this…

This very moment was all it took. This seemingly never ending battle would finally come to an end but who the victor was now lay in her hands.

"What's it gonna be, pinky?" He sneered viciously.

Her hands sweated and her eyes narrowed.

"Do you have…a six?"

A villainous cackled erupted from the man's throat.

"GO FISH!"

Sakura threw down her cards. "You're lying!"

Shisui laughed fanatically. "Alright…Sai do you have any nines?"

"Go fish." Came the fellow ANBU's precise response.

Sakura giggled madly as Shisui sullenly picked a card from the deck in the middle.

Currently the three were sitting on the lush grass of Team 7's training ground and with Sakura being the only one there to greet Shisui and Sai, another member of Itachi's assassination platoon, she was stuck with the two.

"Why are you two here anyway?" Sakura questioned, eyes locked intently on her cards. "Aren't you supposed to be with Itachi-san?"

"Captain's sleeping." Shisui said quickly, obviously not wanting to interrupt Itachi who rarely took a break. "And we've been doing drills since four in the morning."

"That still doesn't answer my question." Sakura drawled.

"We're just passing time…" Shisui said lightly. "And this guy decided to follow me." He gestured to Sai.

The other ANBU was known for his lack of emotion and was even requested personally by Itachi to be assigned to his platoon. Sakura didn't know the specifics but he was obviously…_ thriving_ in the Uchiha's division and for some unidentified reason he sometimes accompanied Shisui or Itachi.

"Do you have any sixes, ugly?"

Sakura's eye twitched and she shook her head sternly.

"You're lying!" Shisui exclaimed with an accusing finger pointed at pink-haired kunoichi.

"Why I'm insulted!" Sakura folded her cards away from the peering Shisui. "And a lady never lies." She added quickly.

"You're no lady." Drawled a cool voice.

Turning around, Sakura smiled widely and waved enthusiastically at her fellow teammate. "Ohayo Sasuke-kun!" She greeted cheerily.

Sasuke stood over the three, his dark eyes scanning from his teammate to his cousin to… "Why are you here?" He questioned levelly.

Sai ignored him.

Shisui stood breaking his cousin's attention away from the ANBU, Sasuke noted his full ANBU attire, dressed in all black and grey with his eagle mask pushed back. "Where is chibi?"

Sasuke shrugged uncaringly as he shifted his chokutō that was strapped to his back. Today he had decided to sport a white high collared shirt with his clan's crest imprinted on the back along with black combat pants and bindings around his forearms.

"She was at your house this morning." Shisui stressed. "Itachi said she was sleeping."

"She's probably with Naruto." Sakura pointed out casually. "She wasn't at her apartment this morning when I dropped off her medical textbooks."

"Do you think we should take her to the hospital?" Shisui asked Sasuke, his head snapping over to him making his spiky charcoal color hair bob.

"Why would she need to go to the hospital?" Sakura asked warily.

"Because she fainted." Shisui said as if stating the obvious.

"When?" Sakura asked, dropping her cards and standing making her red cheongsam flutter.

"Last night, she got into a fight with that prick…" Shisui struggled for a name.

"Inabi." Sasuke supplemented dryly.

"Aa… and then he had the nerve to actually think he could attack her." Shisui laughed at his kinsmen's foolhardy audacity. "Itachi and I were just gonna let his ass get kicked and then gaki freaked out…" He jutted a thumb to Sasuke. "…and then she fainted." He ended abruptly.

Sasuke raised a brow. "You were the one who was about to kill the fool for suggesting she was trying to…_ beguile_ me." His tone showed how ridiculous he thought it all was.

"I would have." Shisui said coldly. "Nobody would question it either…"

"What the hell happened last night?" Sakura asked horrified.

Shisui shrugged. "Clan shit." He scratched the back of his neck. "Oh and Sasuke." Shisui seemed to have finally remembered why he was here.

Sasuke looked at Shisui with a questioning expression.

"Itachi actually told me to tell you something…" He began.

Sasuke automatically narrowed his eyes. "And that would be?" He asked in his deep velvet voice.

"You can't use your Sharingan around chibi." Shisui instructed seriously.

"Why not?" Sakura questioned for him. "How can he not when he trains with her?"

Shisui shrugged. "All I know is that if you do… Itachi says he'll use his on you."

Sakura cringed knowing that the Uchiha heir was known for his powerful and sadistic genjutsu.

Sasuke tensed at the threat. His brother had never directly threatened him before.

He would have to ask Itachi exactly what his relationship with Kagome was.

Sasuke glared daggers at nothing and locked his jaw as Sai suddenly spoke breaking the tense silence.

"May I have my six now?"

XxX

"So how was dinner last night?" Naruto said somewhat audibly with a mouth full of rice.

"Uneventful." Kagome said without missing a beat as she chewed slowly.

They were heading to Team 7's training grounds through the bustling streets of the beautiful Konohagakure no Sato. The sun was shining, illuminating the various merchants crying their wares and the civilians hastily scurried about the village to carry out their simplistic and complacent lives.

Kagome handed Naruto another rice ball from the brown paper bag.

"Arigato." He thanked her appreciatively as he shoved it into his mouth. "Aren't you going to get hot in that?"

"It's an ANBU body suit, it's meant for all weather conditions." She commented on her black attire that covered everything from the neck down except for her fingers. She wore her knee high combat boots along with her wakizashi strapped to her back, her weapons pouch to her hip and her dagger laced with a paralyzing agent to her thigh.

"Still… you sure you want to train in that?"

"Hentai." She murmured.

"Oi! I wasn't suggesting taking it off… I was just saying too… not wear it!" Naruto yelled, making a few civilian women cover their children's ears and glare at him.

"Hn." Kagome grunted amusedly.

"So what did you guys talk about… at dinner?" Naruto pried as he tugged Kagome's leg.

Kagome swallowed a mouth full of sticky rice. "It was mostly a silent affair with a few honest concerns voiced by the Clan head but other besides that it was mostly civil."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Huh… I'm surprised they didn't attack you or poison your food."

"I am quite fond of their company actually." Kagome informed him smoothly.

They were walking on a well beaten dirt path now. Naruto's gait was well paced and lax while Kagome's eyes stared up at the canopy watching as crow fluttered from branch to branch…

They entered the clearing with Sakura exclaiming-

"Go fish! Go fish! Go fish!"

"What are you doing?" Kagome asked seeing Sakura doing a victory dance over an uninterested Sasuke who stared blankly at his cards in hand. His eyes slid past them and landed on Kagome, who was sitting on Naruto's shoulders, with cheeks puffed out with rice.

Sakura turned around, her jade eyes locking onto Kagome with an excited fright. "Kagome-chan!" She exclaimed and dropped her cards.

"I heard about what happened last night!" She ran over to Kagome who placed a finger over lips.

Sakura's eyes landed on Naruto. "And… I'm so happy you…" Kagome did a slicing motion over her throat. "…had fun?" Kagome slapped a hand over her forehead.

"Sakura-chan, you okay?" Naruto asked concerned as he set down Kagome.

"Hehe… I mean…of course I am… it's not like Kagome could have cerebral hemorrhaging or anything." She laughed nervously.

Kagome tensed waiting for Naruto's reaction.

"What's that?"

"N-Nothing!" Sakura stuttered. "C'mon Naruto lets work on chakra control." She dragged him over to the other side of the training ground leaving Kagome chewing a rice ball and Sasuke playing one man go fish.

"Here." Kagome tossed her weapons pouch.

Sasuke caught it easily with one bound hand, hearing the contents jingle around and looked up at her with a questioning stare.

"There's some senbon in there." She started impersonally as she motioned to the pouch. "Focus lightning chakra into them."

"Why?" He asked as he took out a handful of long needles.

"Baby steps Uchiha… start with senbon and work your way up to the chokutō." Kagome could see he was annoyed by her simplistic methods but she brushed it off and elaborated a bit. "It's like Chidori…but smaller." She looked at his face that was void of expression. "Got it?"

Sasuke blinked.

"Good."

And she walked away.

"Where are you going?!" Naruto yelled over the clearing at Kagome's departing figure.

"To take a nap." She said with yawn.

"Since when do you take naps?" Naruto called in astonishment.

"Since a little weasel told me too." Kagome said lightly already feeling the holes being burned into her back by a certain Uchiha.

XxX

Now Tsunade was a patient person.

She was patient considering what she had to deal with every moment of every day; what with the council breathing down her neck, Danzo waiting for her to fail, a village full of shinobi and civilians to be responsible for, finicky daimyos she had to appease, countries that loathed Konoha for being…Konoha, a certain annoying blonde who was gunning for her position as Hokage and all the paperwork that came with it. Yes. She was most definitely a patient person.

But when it came to a certain snot nosed Uchiha prodigy…

All bets were off for this 'Legendary Sucker.'

"What the hell are doing with Kagome Higurashi?" Tsunade snapped at the ANBU Captain who looked like he'd just woken up.

"Could you please elaborate Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked smooth and cold as ice.

Tsunade reached for something under her desk and pulled out something tattered and red.

"I found _this_... at the scene."" The Godaime held up what appeared to be a mangled umbrella. "Only three people have Wind natured chakra and only one of those is capable of shredding an umbrella like a pissed off wildcat." She started. "I have also received numerous reports of you and small girl terrorizing civilians." She threw the shredded vermillion umbrella to the ground.

"I assure you Hokage-sama, that we did not terrorize any civilian of Konoha." Itachi reassured her smoothly.

"We?" Her eye twitched. "What is your relation with her?" She demanded intolerantly.

"An acquaintance." He said simply.

"Itachi… you don't make acquaintances." Tsunade said lowly. "Acquaintances don't pull every record and file on each other."

"I was merely curious." Itachi explained minimally.

"Curious isn't the same as obsessive." Tsunade pointed out. "I want to know what you want with her."

Itachi blinked indolently. "Absolutely nothing."

Tsunade stared at Itachi, long and hard. He never broke her amber gaze and was never one to show he was unsettled or angry or anything else for that matter. Itachi Uchiha always pissed her off to say the least. It was like he was the paragon of arrogance and egotism which was only fueled by his Clan.

However his eyes did not look at her with the same superciliousness light as they had before and she knew something was different…

"Since you are both so well acquainted then…" She held out a scroll with black binding. "…deliver her this message."

Itachi eyed the rolled parchment as his fingers curled around it. His dark gaze narrowing slightly.

"Is that all Hokage-sama?"

"One more thing actually." Tsunade said quickly, her eyes scanning over a parchment with several hiragana before stamping it. "If this is one of your little mind games… then you will find yourself in a very bad place Uchiha." Her warm amber eyes burned him; it wasn't everyday you get threatened by the Hokage. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal."

XxX

Kagome opened her eyes; the sun sparkled behind the canopy of viridian leaves. The trees swayed slightly making the wood moan achingly as a nice wind picked up. Her eyes focused on a crow that was perched on a branch, staring at her curiously.

Cocking its head the bird opened its beak to caw hoarsely at her, its beady black eyes staring at her as its sleek ebony feathers twitched.

Her brows knitted together as she wondered groggily why a creepy bird was following her.

Brushing it off, Kagome sat up. She had slept lightly, falling in and out of consciousness she had done what was severely urged and ingrained into every ANBU member and every shinobi on what not to do- and that was to be unaware of your surroundings.

Her eyes focused on Sakura and Naruto who were perfecting the Rasengan's chakra control and then her eyes slid over to Sasuke who was looking… pissed to say the least.

Standing she walked into the clearing, her head tilting upward to the sky. It was a little past noon.

She walked up to Sasuke's crouching figure, his bound hands tightly clamped over the needle and his eyes narrowing murderously at the senbon.

Kagome lightly kicked his back. "Take a break." She instructed the obviously frustrated Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't respond.

Kagome heard Sakura exclaim 'lunchtime' and knew that Sasuke would have to concede sooner or later.

Naruto ran over to them as Sakura took a swig from her canteen.

"Oi! Let's go get some lunch!" Naruto seemed overly excited as he bounded across the sunny clearing. "Sakura-chan is treating us!" He shouted breathily at Kagome and Sasuke.

Sasuke stood reluctantly but his eyes were still locked onto the needle.

Naruto slung an arm over his shoulder. "C'mon teme, work on it when we get back."

Kagome heard the harsh cry of the crow. The bird flapped eagerly over to her, its beady eyes locked onto her form as it approached at a startling speed.

"What the hell?" Naruto exclaimed as the crow outstretched its thin talons and grasped onto Kagome's shoulder.

The bird bristled at Naruto and let out a long hoarse cry.

Naruto cringed. "Why the hell is a bird here?!"

"It's a messenger crow." Sakura answered after a moment of studying the bird. "A common summon for those in the Uchiha Clan." She scratched the bird under its beak, lifting its bill, it let out a gurgling sound like a twisted purr.

"Who sent it?" Naruto wondered.

"Itachi probably." Sakura figured. "It is his summon."

"Can it talk?" Naruto eyed the black avian summon, remembering Kakashi's dog-nin could.

"No…" Sasuke said rigidly. "This is just a common messenger bird."

Kagome eyed the bird; it was quite large and awkward looking on her shoulder, the crow nudged its head on her cheek in an eerily affectionate manner and lifted a leg. On its slender leathery foot was a small tube. Kagome untied it and held it in an open palm.

In a poof of smoke the tube enlarged into a full sized scroll in black binding.

She narrowed her eyes at the rolled parchment.

_ANBU__…_

Unrolling it, her eyes scanned over the parchment.

Naruto peered over her shoulder. "Why is it blank?"

Ignoring him, Kagome glared at the paper until it was suddenly shredded into thin strands of white. She carelessly let them go in the wind.

"Change of plans Uchiha." She said quickly. "You're going to have to be able to channel Chidori through your weapon… by today."

Sasuke's head snapped in her direction.

"He can't even get it through a needle. Why does it have to be by today?" Naruto asked, thinking her training was _borderline_ unreasonable.

"Because the ANBU entrance examination is no longer next month."

"When is it?" Sakura asked timidly.

"Next week."

Sasuke murmured something harshly under his breath and ran his fingers furiously through his hair.

"Is that all your upset about?" Sakura asked concerned, noting how dark Kagome's mood was.

"No." Kagome murmured distantly as the bird on her shoulder nudged her affectionately.

"Then what is it?" Sasuke snapped coldly, he wasn't concerned but her bleak attitude was just so frustratingly annoying. Her voice was blank and her eyes were uncertain when she spoke.

-

-

-

-

-

"I am no longer on probation."

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Naruto manga anyone? I bet Sasuke is going to kill Gaara. At least I hope so! So all you Gaara lovers will feel my pain now that Itachi is dead! The anime... makes me want to cry... it's soo good but Itachi is going to die soon! WHY?!! I know I'm not the only one feeeling like this... Just ask Passionate Crow Rat! (Gasp) I just mentioned you! No, but seriously I'm not excited... at all.

**Author's Note:** Well how was that? I actually put some hard work into this. Worked on the quality mainly!

Don't freak out on me because Kagome got strangled by Itachi or the fact that she is reinstated into ANBU. Hehe…by the way anyone have anything they want to see happen in this fic both funny wise and seriously? I'm open to suggestions about anything really. Let me know!

Check my profile if you want to know about my updating schedule!

Hehe…I started another fic…but it is dying… for reviews! I guess it was a total and complete failure…(cough) review… "War Dance" (cough)

Okay well…12,000 words! 10 from YOU would just make my day and make me want to write more! Please review!

~KK


	7. Oh, Sweet Screaming Indulgence

__

**Author's Note:** Thank You! To all those who review! I read each and every one! And I love you all!

----Fourteen thousand six hundred and ninety two words...(faints) Why is it so long? Because this chapter went into some plot development that had to go in one continuous flow. Then add a little comic relief and Bam! You got my chapter!

**Main Pairing:** We are having some technical difficulties… But it definitely has more than guy. (^-^)

**Side Pairings:** Sakura/Shisui (Hey! They're both crazy!)

Let's see who can give a review first!

* * *

_**6 months ago…**_

"You wanted to see me?"

Tsunade's eyes glanced up from a scroll. "I did." She said firmly and set down the parchment on the already cluttered desk. "You completed your last mission in record time, Kagome." The Godaime commended.

Kagome stood before her Hokage and bowed her head a little, her long raven black hair dripping past her shoulders. "Arigato Hokage-sama."

"There is no reason to be modest Kagome, you were able to decipher the coded message quite skillfully and most of all- _accurately_, leaving my shinobi aware of the ambush and safe for another day."

"It really was no trouble." She brushed off the compliment swiftly.

"You saved their _lives_ Kagome," Tsunade stressed. " …just because it wasn't on the battlefield makes it no less commendable."

She said nothing.

Tsunade looked over the girl. She was small, probably the smallest ANBU and also the most modest. She'd always been a quiet child but she had always been a bit spiteful to the ones closest to her, Shikamaru made a prime example of that. Kagome was no less a prodigy than Itachi Uchiha himself, but her skills were more intellectual than physical and the fact that she was a female didn't help matters either.

Dressed in full ANBU attire Kagome stood before her Hokage. Her long hair hung past her back in elegant waves as spunky bangs obscured her pale blue eyes.

Kagome had intercepted a message, captured the enemy envoy for interrogation and deciphered the complex message in order to prevent an oncoming attack on an entire squad of Jounin. It was truly remarkable, the cipher used on the message would have taken the Communications Squad at least a few days, while she decoded it within an hour.

Kagome shifted awkwardly on the balls of her feet.

"Is there anything else?" Kagome asked blankly.

"There is." Tsunade responded rigidly.

Kagome waited, her eyes staring at her Hokage.

"Congratulations Higurashi, you have been promoted to ANBU Captain." Tsunade announced strongly.

Her anomalous eyes widened. "I-I'm not ready, Hokage-sama." She choked out and then quickly bowed her head, her dark bangs veiling her face. "Please, I cannot accept this… I decline."

Tsunade stared.

Tsunade blinked.

Tsunade twitched.

"What. Do. You. Mean?" She grounded out. "It's the highest rank _anyone_ has ever achieved at your age."

Kagome looked back up. "Hai, but I cannot accept. I am too young to lead my own squadron."

"Ah, so that's the problem." The Godaime mused as she rested a cheek on her palm. "I'll tell you what, you keep the rank and I'll keep you solo." She gave a wink to Kagome.

"Being a Captain will give you unlimited access to files that will further your intelligence gathering as well as more authority while on the field." Tsunade twirled a lock of pale blonde hair with a bored gaze. "Nothing has changed…well, except for the pay." Tsunade smirked.

"And my missions?" Kagome questioned, not at all too concerned about the compensation.

"Will no longer be limited to simply Reconnaissance, you're a Captain now. You will have a variety of missions and when you get older…you will have the choice of a platoon."

Kagome ran her hand through her bangs, her lips parted for an answer but it was just then that Shizune busted through the doors of the office.

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade raised a brow. "What is it Shizune?" She questioned lowly.

Shizune gasped as she held out a scroll to her Hokage.

Kagome took hold of it and placed it on the Godaime's desk, who eyed it cautiously.

Slowly, Tsunade's lacquered nails brushed against the binding of the rolled parchment before taking hold of it and unrolling it swiftly. Hard amber eyes scanned over it.

"Inform the Strategic Planning division of this right away then send the gathered intel to Communications. I want the Assasination Squad to deploy a squadron _now_." Tsunade barked out orders fiercely, the commands flowing off her tongue easily.

"We can't."

Tsunade's grip tightened on the scroll at Shizune's words. "Explain." She ordered.

"After the raid on Otafuku, our ANBU are hard pressed to maintain security of the surrounding outposts as well as our borders and our own village. We are stretched too thin Tsunade-sama, with most of the Assasination Squad out of the country along with most of our Jounin." Shizune explained desperately. "We can't afford an entire platoon of ANBU dispatched until we have a more secure holding on our country, we must not show weakness to other countries now."

"I need a squad." Tsunade stressed.

"We don't have any squads to spare, not with so little shinobi on duty."

"Are any ANBU off duty?"

"The only ones that are, Tsunade-sama, are in the hospital."

"I'll do it." Kagome said quickly.

Tsunade shook her head. "Absolutely not, this mission is no mere scouting mission."

"A Captain is the only rank that can bypass mission protocol, Kagome-san." Shizune reminded gently.

"I am a Captain." Kagome said tersely. "You would not deny this." She warned, her pale blue eyes landing on Tsunade.

"Kagome, it is not the matter _if you can do this_ it is merely my personal concern for your wellbeing." The Godaime admitted truthfully.

Kagome blinked with raised brows. "I have always performed flawlessly with no acknowledgement from my comrades. This mission will surely prove my worth on the field; giving confidence to the platoon I lead in the future."

"I see." Tsunade saw this was to prove herself to her fellow ANBU, who to be quite honest were either scared of her or resentful of her.

Kagome waited, her young face apathetic as always as she stared unflinchingly at the Hokage.

"I'm sorry Kagome, but I can not allow this." Tsunade spoke firmly.

Kagome blinked, her think lashes kissed her cheeks as she spoke. "Then I resign as a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato."

Tsunade gaped.

"If you will not treat me as an equally instated ANBU Captain of our village then I see no point in continuing my service as a shinobi, especially if your personal concern for my wellbeing outweighs the welfare of Konoha."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she threw the scroll to the small ANBU who caught it steadily. "Fine."

Kagome's eyes scanned over the contents.

"But just know, once you do this. There is no going back."

Soft blue met hard amber.

"I understand."

XxX

_**Present…**_

"_Is that all your upset about?" Sakura asked concerned, noting how dark Kagome's mood was._

"_No." Kagome murmured distantly as the bird on her shoulder nudged her affectionately._

"_Then what is it?" Sasuke snapped coldly, he wasn't concerned but her bleak attitude was just so frustratingly annoying. Her voice was blank and her eyes were uncertain when she spoke._

"_I am no longer on probation."_

XxX

Naruto stared.

Sasuke glared.

Sakura blinked.

Kagome just waited for a reaction…from _anyone._

An awkward breeze fluttered over the grasses making unseen waves through the clearing.

"Okay…" Naruto said cautiously. "What does it mean?"

Kagome shot him a questioning glance.

"I mean…do you go on missions or what?"

"…I have no idea." Kagome said quietly, her bangs hanging past and obscuring her opalescent eyes behind a dark veil. "It could mean a lot of things."

"You're a Captain, aren't you?" Sakura questioned.

Kagome nodded, shadowed blue met iridescent green.

"Then does that mean you will receive a platoon now?" How Sakura knew she didn't have a platoon somewhat unnerved Kagome. The girl knew far too much for such a foolish blossom.

"It is highly possible I will be assigned to a squad rather than a full-fledged platoon, especially with my past." Kagome added swiftly as she felt the avian summon flustered its feathers suddenly.

The crow on her shoulder let out a hoarse long cry and awkwardly took flight, furiously flapping its wings into the forest. Kagome watched the bird fly away. Her eyes narrowed.

"I'm sure you'll be- Oi!" Naruto hollered at Kagome, who had burst into a lithe run. "Where are you going?!" He yelled at her departing back.

Kagome looked back with a smirk that told him all.

"Looks like she's going to see Itachi." Sakura pointed out as Kagome disappeared from sight.

Naruto gritted his teeth.

-

-

-

"He's a pedophile for kami's sake!"

XxX

She followed the bird easily, even if its small black form flew effortlessly overhead. Kagome nimbly pounced from branch to branch. The sleek bird simply glided with black wings outstretched to easily catch the torrents of wind and she glided as well, with chakra enhanced speed she caught the thick boughs of trees easily enough.

She felt something sting her cheek as she landed onto the dirt. Her murky eyes watched as the bird casually flew overhead towards a large building.

Kagome didn't waste anytime and scaled the structure. She hopped onto the roof in one fluid motion, only to be greeted by stoic man with a casual outstretched arm as a raven's claws grasped onto it and cawed at its master.

Kagome stood and watched as the avian summon eagerly took a piece of meat from its master's extended fingers; the crow gulped it down furiously before cocking its head in her direction.

Itachi glanced at Kagome with a bored gaze.

She walked silently up to him. "Is this how you avoid people, Uchiha-san?" She stood before him, his intimidating figure looming over her darkly.

Itachi just stared at her. "I have always approached matters with you directly, Higurashi-san." His eyes glided over her uncharacteristically willowy form until his eyes landed on her ashen cheek.

"Hn." She grunted sharply as she crossed her arms. "Then you knew I would have followed the messenger crow." She narrowed her grey blue eyes at the oblivious bird. "You knew I would have questioned you about the ANBU examinations, however…" She paused with a smirk. "…I find it amusing that you are avoiding your brother."

"I never knew I was so predictable." Itachi replied smoothly as the crow suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Neither did I."

Both stilled.

Predictable was definitely the wrong adjective to describe an ANBU Captain. It was deadly to be so.

"Can you tell me why they are moving the examinations to next week?" She asked, brushing off how unnerved she was, just like the imaginary lint on her shoulder.

"An unexpected problem has presented itself to the possible candidates for ANBU, this is a regular occurrence on all missions, Higurashi-san." Itachi reminded her.

"There are other ways to test them." She retorted sharply.

"Sasuke…" She hated the way he said his name. "…will be more than capable of passing." Itachi brushed off the subject as his eyes lay on her intensely. "You're bleeding."

Instantly she brought a hand to her cheek and sure enough warm sticky liquid streamed freely from a jagged slit on her cheek. Her fingertips glowed for a moment until the cut sealed and she wiped away the copper smelling liquid with a deft stroke.

His eyes were locked onto her small form and it was then, that she was reminded that this man was nothing but a trained a predator.

She brought her stained fingertips to her lips…

His gaze darkened with a rapacious shadow.

Testing the nature of the beast, she licked the bitter iron.

Itachi's eyes were impossible at that moment.

She smirked.

How cliché to have a fascination with blood…

Itachi turned away from her, showing her his back as if she was but a harmless kitten.

"He's not using the Sharingan." She hissed.

"Is that so?" He commented lightly right before he uncaringly stepped onto the ledge.

Kagome stared at his departing back, the porcelain rat mask pushed back as it leered at her. Itachi disappeared in one sinuous drop.

Kagome followed, flickering out of sight and reappearing on the dirt street cluttered with civilians. Their faces were a blur as she looked for a certain Uchiha.

Her eyes scanned the populace, flittering about, looking for a very distinct- she felt something in her back.

"You're terrible chibi!" The voice boomed in her ear as she felt the kunai jab her in the back, the beveled blade unmistakable as it lightly prodded her soft skin. "I could have killed you seventeen times." He murmured darkly.

A swift jab with the elbow was all Shisui needed to back off. Kagome swiftly turned around to face the obnoxious Uchiha.

Shisui smiled widely as he plopped a hand on top of her ebony locks, tousling them a bit before speaking. "So…should I congratulate you or should you congratulate me?"

Kagome stared at the immature man, her eyes narrowed as Shisui laughed heartily. "I'm a Captain now!" He announced. "And so are you, well you were…but you're off probation now." He slung an arm over her slim shoulders and began to walk.

Kagome felt her small form dragged by unstoppable force that was Shunshin no Shisui, down the streets of Konoha and with no Itachi in sight.

"C'mon chibi, Itachi is treating me too lunch." Shisui informed her enthusiastically. "You can be my date."

Kagome raised a brow as she looked up at Shisui oddly. "Date?" She questioned dryly.

"Er…" He laughed nervously. "I mean…friend."

Kagome eyed him charily.

"Don't tell him, I said that!" Shisui begged in a surprisingly high tenor.

"Hn."

Shisui winced at the familiar grunt as he directed the introverted, emotionally scarred and mentally troubled ANBU preteen down the oblivious streets of Konoha.

"Where are you taking me?" She queried sharply, her quick shadowed eyes sliding over the boisterous Uchiha suspiciously.

"Here." He quipped as he suddenly turned her small body in the direction of a restaurant.

Kagome felt her form goaded gently but swiftly into the eating establishment, as if her intentions of following through with Shisui's plan would be dismissed and she would be on her way to find-

Itachi Uchiha sitting casually in the back of the building and Kagome found it oddly foreboding to find the deadly shinobi immersed in shadows when it was a plainly bright and cloudless outside.

With a deft twirl and grip, Kagome easily evaded Shisui's grasp and drifted across the room in a fluid gait. Her eyes locked with the Uchiha as he sipped his tea, obsidian meeting cerulean in silent greeting before glancing back at the wall.

Shisui materialized in a seat next to his Captain as he greeted him heartily and ever so genuinely as he beckoned 'chibi' to sit.

Kagome literally kicked her legs out from under her as she plopped onto one of the low seating cushions that surrounded the low table. Stubbornly sitting across from the annoyingly obnoxious and loud Uchiha and his frustratingly stoic and quiet cousin; Kagome closed her eyes in a unconcerned manner and crossed her arms.

When neither of them spoke and Shisui started too, Kagome opened her eyes.

"Long time no see, Uchiha-san." She said blankly as she focused in on Itachi.

"Aa." Itachi agreed darkly light as he sipped his tea.

Avoiding subjects seemed to be a specialty of his today. Feeling that Shisui was in on the whole 'Sasuke is not using his bloodline limit' issue, Kagome went with her instincts and addressed him frankly.

"Sasuke is not using his Sharingan." Kagome said suddenly, interrupting whatever tangent Shisui had been on.

"…that's…interesting." Shisui struggled. Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes, honestly what if she was an enemy nin questioning him for the layout of Konoha's defense network... the fate of their village was truly doomed when in the hands of Shisui Uchiha, Kagome thought achingly.

Kagome continued to look at them both with a hard gaze.

"Did you threaten him?" She asked suddenly blunt.

Shisui laughed nervously. "Now, why would we do that?"

This is where her ANBU training came in handy, for her face stayed blank and eerily expressionless, making the newly instated Captain squirm.

"Okay! Okay!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "But I'm just the innocent messenger! It's undiplomatic to kill the messenger between warring countries."

Is that what they were?

Kagome ignored Shisui's metaphorical outlook on her and Itachi's relationship.

"No…it's just looked down upon, something I have no qualms with." Kagome bit out, leaning forward slightly her eyes gleamed in the dim lighting of the room.

"Heh…" Shisui grinned lopsidedly. "Why don't you ask the sender of the threat?" He tilted his head to his shorter lither cousin who simply blinked languidly at Kagome's sharp stare.

Kagome didn't speak; her question clear.

"Oh c'mon chibi, is it really that hard to figure out?" Shisui exclaimed in exasperation.

Kagome kept silent.

"You really want to know?" Shisui pressed, he leaned forward as his charcoal eyes honed in on her like mouse before an eagle.

Kagome kept her narrowed gaze, her shadowed eyes challenging the Uchiha silently.

Shisui spoke solemnly to the spunky ANBU in a low deep voice that resonated strongly, easily able to unnerve anyone's resolve. "It's because you're scared shitless of the Sharingan."

"Hn." She leaned back and eyed him with chauvinistic gaze. "Don't flatter yourself."

She felt the sudden rush of chakra to the optic nerves as-

"Shisui."

Snapping both ANBU out of their heated staring contest, Itachi spoke swiftly, his expressionless tone coldly bringing them both out of their threatening moods and silencing both parties.

Shisui leaned back, he may be a Captain of equal rank but Itachi still was the heir…

Kagome didn't take heed to Itachi's warning at first but simply glared harder before realizing that Itachi had just stopped Shisui from using the Sharingan on her. She exhaled a shaky breath that she didn't realize she was holding and leaned back to analyze the two.

Shisui shook his head with closed eyes. "Gomen ne chibi, but you gotta get over that fear of yours."

She stiffened.

"I mean, it'll get you killed one day." Shisui spoke candidly and his motives were genuine. The Body Flicker master just wanted her fear to be done with, to expose her to it would be the fastest way to confront and conquer one's fear. This was just one of the basics of the human psyche that all ANBU must know.

"…I know."

"Then why don't you do something about it?" Shisui asked concerned, his slate eyes softened at the sight of her.

"What can I do?" Her voice wavered.

"Face your fear." He said abruptly.

Itachi set down his cup down on the table with a solid knock.

Such a simple action but Itachi Uchiha did nothing without reason. The other two occupants of the table unconsciously focused their attention onto the Uchiha heir.

"Confrontation is not a proven method, Shisui."

"Then what is?" Shisui questioned tersely.

Itachi glanced over to his suddenly defensive cousin.

Blank callous orbs met dark challenging eyes.

Shisui tensed at his cousin's next words.

"One that does not concern you." Itachi brushed him off.

"I'm just trying to help, you smart ass!" Shisui stood at Itachi's sudden curt manner.

"I don't need your help." Kagome grounded out.

Shisui whipped around at her sharp words, feeling Itachi's dismissive aura and Kagome's callous remarks made Shisui threw his hands at the two ridiculous prodigies.

"Fuck this." And he turned away from Itachi and stormed rashly out of the dimly lit room and out of the restaurant, making a few servers scurry out of the fuming Uchiha's way.

Kagome stared uncaringly at the table. The dull wood was very interesting at the moment.

"That was an overreaction." She observed blankly.

Itachi let his eyes close as he leaned back slightly, he seemed totally at ease when no one else was present. "Shisui…" He began smoothly. "…is under a great deal of stress at the moment."

"That may be true, but he still spoke the truth about my fear." Her eyes drifted over to the still Uchiha, it reminded her of sleeping panther. Muscles lax, eyes closed, fangs hidden and claws sheathed. He was a deadly force, one that could surface at any moment.

"It does not concern him."

She raised a brow at the seemingly unconcerned Uchiha. "Neither does it concern you."

Now his eyes opened slightly, glistening slits of obsidian spoke out between thick angular lashes. "Hmm…" His lips twitched as he leaned back more, his slender neck exposed to her. "Everything concerns me, Higurashi-san." His voice was uncommonly warm and rich.

"Really?" She propped an elbow up as she rested a pallid cheek on an open palm. "Everything?"

"Everything that concerns certain interests." He amended fluidly as he stretched his neck to the side, dark raven slipping past and hanging limply next to his elegantly gaunt face.

"Interests?" She questioned lightly amused. "Is that what you call your _friends_."

Ah, that's right. They were…

He smirked. It was a chilling thing to witness. "Aa."

"Konnichiwa." Chimed a server as she approached the low table, her bright summer yukata was followed by an equally cheerful face as she smiled widely at Kagome and eyed Itachi who was simply draping himself where he was seated. "Anything to drink?" She asked meekly.

Itachi's eyes slid blithely over to the girl. "Tea." He gestured to the empty cup.

"What kind?" She asked dutifully.

Itachi's eyes were already focused off the girl.

Kagome sighed. "You already went over your response limit." She cocked her head in the waitress's direction. "Get him something sweet."

"Ano…alright." She jotted something down on the little notepad clenched in her slender hands. "And you?"

"Same."

The girl scribbled something down again.

"Do you really need to write that down?" Kagome questioned smoothly.

The girl blinked her wide hazel eyes at Kagome and simply walked away.

Kagome sighed loudly.

"Frustrated?" Itachi questioned apathetically.

"Hn….Let's just say, Shisui is not the only one to be overly stressed."

Itachi kept his heavy gaze on her. "Really?"

She did not fidget under its familiar and dark weight. "Hai…" She replied listlessly. "With the examination date so premature, the candidates and their instructors will be hard-pressed to finish their training." She shook her head. "I understand the lesson- adaptation in an unexpected situation is a vital skill." She quoted without forethought. "However, I do not believe that this is the correct method."

"Then…enlighten me." He leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes gleaming even in the dim lighting.

"Was it you who suggested it, Uchiha-san?"

"Hm, my reputation has always had sway over ANBU affairs." His lips twitched. "My suggestions are taken quite seriously, Higurashi-san."

"Hn." She tensed slightly at his close proximity, her tapered fingers clasped lightly onto her plump cheek. "They shouldn't follow the great Uchiha Prodigy so blindly."

He smirked again, his angular eyes held an amused dark light. "If I was anybody else I would be insulted."

"Then what are you, Uchiha-san?" She asked, déjà vu invading her current mindset.

He leaned forward, his long fingers curling around his prominent cheekbones and his sunken in eyes blinked lazily at her. "Amused."

"Happy to see I amuse you." She leaned back, evading his closeness.

He said nothing.

But he still smirked, that arrogant simper that never faded and etched itself into her thoughts.

"Here you go." Interjected a feminine voice; a slender hand grasped onto the stout kettle and poured the amber liquid into their cups. "Here's some miso as well." The waitress added as two bowls were placed on the side.

Kagome waved off the server as she picked up the small bowl with pale palms. Her fingers lingered around the warm basin as she brought it up to her lips, hot liquid flowed over her tongue and coursed down her throat…

Kagome tensed as she swallowed and set down the bowl abruptly, wincing as she did so.

"Let me see."

His cool voice startled her slightly right before it chilled her very veins.

She eyed him slightly. "See…what?" Her anomalous eyes glistening with a pale light as grey shadowed her irises.

His expressionless countenance never betrayed his intentions; though they rang loud and clear to her. "Your throat." He replied darkly, his tongue rolled over his sparse response. He was never one to repeat himself or spare unnecessary words.

His gaze sharpened and she felt the threat of its edge as she unconsciously brought an unsure hand to her neckline. Her lissome fingers cautiously pulled on the dark fabric of her ANBU bodysuit, revealing hideously discolored flesh as purple and green clouded over the skin.

Itachi stared. "You need a healer."

"A contusion cannot be healed…I went over this Uch-"

"It is more than a simple contusion." Any ANBU member knew the basics of human anatomy.

She closed her eyes, as her lithe hand glowed with a light jade and hover over the bruised and exposed flesh. A few moments passed. "My larynx is unharmed and my hyoid is not fractured." She opened her pale eyes that were dusted over with gray, seemingly unsurprised. "Your concern is unneeded."

"Everything concerns me, Higurashi-san."

_Everything._

XxX

"Where were you?"

"Hm?" Kagome glanced up at the fuming blonde. Her footsteps were silent as she glided over the viridian grasses that wafted in the wind eerily.

"I said, where were you?!" He yelled making a certain Uchiha wake up from his nap and a certain copy-nin glance up from his _book_.

"Lunch." She said plainly with a nonchalant shrug.

"You were with _him_…weren't you?" Naruto hardened his watery blue eyes into cold ice.

"I have no idea what you are insinuating."

"Why were you with my brother?" Sasuke's voice was deeply calm.

Kagome's dusky blue eyes flittered over to the Uchiha, who was languorously resting on a thick tree bough up above, letting his body go lax, Sasuke slid off of the tree limb and landed on the ground with casual back flip. His listless eyes focused on her as Sasuke loomed over the young ANBU.

"To discuss the early examination as well make plans to go over mission reports later on this afternoon." She replied truthfully. "Though, Shisui is at the moment piqued at your brother."

"That's nothing new, Shisui and Itachi always get into fights. They squabble almost as much as teme does with his brother." Naruto interjected with his hands on his neck and head leaned back. "That just means that the freak will probably train with us."

"Hn." She grunted chauvinistically. "Not likely."

Everyone stiffened.

"His temper is not solely directed at Uchiha-san." Kagome's eyes slid over the three occupants of Team 7. There was one member missing.

"If he is not with us and he is not with Itachi-kun…" Kakashi mused indolently with a characteristic scratch of a masked chin. "Then…"He trailed off.

Due to the amazing deductive reasoning skills of Team 7 and their ANBU addition, it didn't take long for any of them to guess.

"Where is Sakura-san?"

XxX

"Sakura-sempai?"

Sakura glanced up after a moment from her clipboard. "What is it Moegi?" She queried kindly as she walked into the next room of the hallway she regularly did rounds on.

The girl stayed silent for a moment. "T-there is a man in room 126 asking for you."

"That room is reserved for Uruchi-san's recovery." Sakura said swiftly as she pulled a curtain away to reveal a young boy.

"Hai, but Sakura-sempai…he's not leaving."

"Mhm." She brushed off Moegi's concern and approached the small boy. "Open up." And she placed a tongue depressor in the boy's gaping mouth, shining a light into the dark cavern, Sakura's brow furrowed. "Congratulations you have Streptococcal Pharyngitis."

"Huh?"

"Strep throat." Moegi supplemented and scurried after the pink haired kunoichi. "Sakura-sempai!"

Sakura turned around, her jade eyes watched as the permanently blushing medic-nin-in-training ran after her.

"Sempai-"

"Listen Moegi, I have a lot of work to do and I have to be training with my team. I have to be two places at once so I can't be bothered at the moment."

"B-but…Uchiha-san said-"

"Uchiha?"

Moegi nodded furiously, her job was pretty simple keep track of appointments, patients, do a few odd jobs here and there and observe the working medics; however once in awhile her sempai was demanded to look over certain shinobi…mainly from her team but this man was not-

"Sasuke…" She grounded out and with the fury of a mad bull, the girl with name to match her hair, marched down the pristine white halls of Konoha Hospital.

Before Moegi could react Sakura was already furiously tapping the elevator button and disappearing behind the closing doors.

"Sempai!"

But she was already gone for Sakura Haruno was an unstoppable force when on a rampage.

XxX

"You-!"

The curtain flew furiously with a roar as Sakura pointed an accusing finger at the lounging patient.

Her anger deflated instantly at the sight of Shisui.

"-are not Sasuke."

Shisui rolled his eyes.

"Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "I have no where else to be."

Sakura twitched. "Get out!" She pointed rigidly to the door. "Your poor aunt's cousin's nephew's grandmother twice removed is getting out of surgery and needs this room!"

"Well actually she is-"

"I don't care about your family tree!" Sakura yelled with clenched fists. "Get. Out."

"How attached are you to chibi?" Shisui asked seriously.

Sakura's face blanked.

"Pretty attached am I right?"

"What are you getting at Shisui?" She snapped, jade eyes narrowing coldly.

"Well what happens when gaki is in ANBU under Itachi and chibi is doing her own thing in Reconnaissance?"

Sakura sat in chair and listened. "Make this quick." She ordered in a manner similar to that of her shishou.

"ANBU is in uproar due to Itachi."

Sakura crossed her legs and placed the clipboard on her lap. Her white lap coat draped past her knees as it covered her red cheongsam. "An uproar?"

"Itachi is changing things, he is reorganizing not only the Assassination Squad but also Central Unit."

"Reorganizing?" Sakura looked at the lounging Uchiha as he tightened the long nape. "How much sway does he have over in ANBU?"

"Quite a bit." Shisui confessed. "He's been a busy little weasel these past few days."

"Really?" Sakura's jade eyes glanced up in thought. "So this is all recent."

Shisui nodded. "He has the oddest requests…" He mused to himself. "But being Itachi, he is persuasive and gets his way."

"What exactly is he doing?"

"ANBU are being moved around, making a certain department disperse."

"What department?" Sakura pried knowing what she was hearing outranked her severely.

"Reconnaissance." Shisui said grimly.

Sakura's eyes widened. "But that's-"

"Chibi's department." Shisui closed his eyes.

"Why would Itachi do that?" Where would Kagome go once her division was fully dissembled and she had no where to work? Her eyes widened. "You don't think he is going to move her to Assassinations."

"I don't know, but if I know anything about Itachi its one thing."

"And that is?" Sakura asked, somewhat hesitant to hear the answer.

"Is that he is one possessive bastard."

XxX

"Do it again." Kagome's intonation betrayed her bored frustration.

Sasuke's jaw tensed, thick cords of tendon drawn taught in his neck. His shoulders locked as his strong hands gripped the sheath of his chokutō. The black and white weaving grazed his fingers as he shifted his grip.

He let out a harsh breath and closed his eyes.

Focusing his Lightning chakra took barely any concentration; he'd done it hundreds of times with Chidori but this was different. Lightning chakra crackled expectedly at his finger tips, he could have forced more but that wasn't the point. He pushed the crackling chakra through his hands and into the dead piece of metal, which was his sword…

Only to have it fizzle and die out.

_Again. _

He opened his eyes.

Blankly.

He looked up.

The cloudless day swaddled the searing sun as it slowly descended into its dark slumber. The light of it was still intense despite it being in the afternoon. It was not the sultry golden of a blistering afternoon but instead, the scorching white of an unrelenting heat.

He felt hot frustration beat steadily through his veins, making his head pound and ears ring.

"Do it again."

It was instantly chilled and he looked at the raven haired kunoichi who watched him with a cool dispassionate stare. Her eyes pooled with a murky blue grey that watched him with a blasé interest. Her dark lithe form sprawled onto the brilliantly green grasses, her head casually perked up as she watched him.

She sighed heavily as she lay her head back down on slender outstretched arms.

"Do it… again." She repeated somewhat muttered.

Her eyes became half-lidded and somewhat glazed over but Kagome didn't close them.

And so he did.

And the chakra dissipated as soon as it left his fingertips to enter the sword, leaving his hands feeling numb and his sword lifeless.

Kagome's head bobbed.

"This method of yours is ineffective."

Kagome yawned in response, her limbs stretching and ribcage distending as she let out a tongue curling yawn. Her fingers clawed at ground like a lazing cat bathing in the sun.

"You're right." She conceded simply as her eyes blinked slowly a few times. Kagome sat up; her slim arms draped over her knees as she indolently stared at Sasuke. "Give me the blade."

Sasuke deftly tossed the blade, cutting the air as it sung with a metallic whine.

Kagome caught the deadly projectile by the blade, making a resounding thud as she caught the sheath.

Sasuke watched her carefully.

"Now, watch Uchiha." She instructed tersely as she stood with chokutō in hand.

Her small dark form stood before him as he watched with dark eyes.

She closed her eyes and breathed out steadily. The blade hummed to life with chakra within an instant and with a straight slice through the air it sent a silent but strong gush of wind through the clearing. The grass danced in the unnatural wind and the trees swayed for only a moment…

Right before three old oaks crashed to the ground with thick boughs snapping and leaves flying.

When the commotion quieted, it was plainly obvious that the trees were cleanly cut with Wind chakra.

Kagome glanced at Sasuke with a hard dusky blue gaze. "Now Uchiha… activate your Sharingan."

Sasuke stilled.

"If you don't… you will fail the exam."

Sasuke said nothing but looked at her, his dark eyes scanning her from head to toe.

"I know hethreatened you." She informed him tersely. "But if you are fit to be ANBU, then you won't let your brother intimidate you so easily."

"You fainted." Sasuke pointed out dryly. The girl was deathly afraid of his Kekkei Genkai, did she seem to forget what happened last time?

"Aa…" She tilted the chokutō, the blade glinted in the searing light of the sun. "…this time however, I will have my eyes closed." She said simply.

"That will not change anything." Sasuke said in his familiar aloof tenor. Being in ANBU, her chakra sensory was to be immaculate; any member would be able to detect the smallest chakra fluctuation in the optic nerve. ANBU didn't need eyes to tell whether a Sharingan or Byakugan was activated.

"Just do it, Uchiha." She bit out lowly.

Her eyes closed.

Thick black lashes kissed damask stained cheeks.

Closed eyes were obscured by an inky black curtain.

"Do. It." Her voice was strained. "Now."

Sasuke felt the surge of chakra to the optic nerve, making his irises sting slightly as they melded into the familiar tomoe emblazoned carmine.

Kagome let out a shaky breath.

Sasuke watched as she stiffened, her heartbeat increased, her lungs wheezed as the color drained from her features. She gasped stoically silent.

She was having a panic attack.

Sasuke was about to dispel his Sharingan right before-

She channeled a stream of Wind natured chakra, he could see it. It flowed continuously from her hands and materialized as it flowed into the blade.

It was so simple.

He was pushing Lightning chakra into the blade hoping that it would sustain itself, unaided, within the metal. That wasn't the answer.

One needed a continuous flow of chakra from the body, to break that connection would be to cancel the flow of chakra, leaving it only to dissipate into nothing and thus making the blade lifeless.

The sword was merely an extension of her chakra network.

His eyes widened of but a fraction.

It was so simple.

What a fool he was to not figure it out earlier.

Kagome bit her lip.

He watched as the Wind chakra flowed effortlessly into the sword; building and building, making some unseen pressure that she kept on building upon.

The blade hummed to life as chakra surged forth from her body into the weapon, eventually making the steady hum of chakra into an eerie whine.

With a final gush of chakra, Kagome sent the surge of wind chakra outwards; the pressure making it condense into an unseen crescent.

It rushed forward with a silent roar, the deadly gale blasted through the forest with an eerie silence. Eventually it lost momentum and dissipated into nothing but air.

Sasuke watched as massive trees fell over like dominos, one after the other, they toppled forth with limbs snapping and branches flailing.

Sasuke dispelled his Kekkei Genkai as Kagome tossed him the blade in a not so kindly manner. He caught the sword easily as Kagome stood with eyes snapped shut. Sasuke approached the motionless ANBU.

He stood over her, such a small destructive thing she was. Barely standing up to his chest, Sasuke looked down on the little mop of black hair.

"Kagome."

She heard him say her name. She knew he wanted her to open her eyes, so that she would not embarrass herself with her childish behavior.

"Kagome."

His voice was cold. That was comforting in the most bizarre sense. Sasuke had a deeper voice than Itachi. Itachi was like a blade, smooth and cold but able to cut through a conversation with a deathly intonation. While Sasuke's was something she couldn't quite discern, it was like a storm; deep and dark, with emotions rumbling just beneath the surface, ready to strike like lightning.

Yes, Itachi was like a blade; cold and calculating.

And Sasuke was a storm; emotional and unpredictable.

"Kagome." He snapped coldly.

Her eyes shot open.

Sasuke stared at her with his usual aloof façade.

Kagome stared back with her dispassionate one.

He blinked. She looked so delicate. Large blue eyes glinting in the searing light of the sun, flushed cheeks matted with inky dark hair made her look worn. Her eyes were sunken in as lavender pale flesh stained her eyelids and hung beneath. So young and already she looked like she was about to break.

Such a jaded and fragile thing she was…

This is what Itachi could have been.

Torn by memories, conflicted by emotions, weakened by morals….

He pitied her.

But his brother rose above that.

Just as he would. He would conquer his weaknesses and surpass his brother.

"Sasuke…" The first time she spoke his name. It was timidly pleading.

A small hand grasped onto his forearm. It curled around the lax muscle and pale skin as the blue depths of her eyes became shadowed with an unspoken worry.

"When you are in ANBU, can you promise me something?" She asked distantly.

He stared at her for a long time, his eyes finally landed onto her small palm connected to his arm.

He said nothing.

"Remember yourself."

His face stayed handsomely placid, but he nodded at her strange words.

Kagome let go of his arm and turned away from him.

She stood in the clearing for a moment and tilted her head in his direction. Her dark locks draped to the side as dusky blue eyes stared back at him with distant worry. "Will you promise me something else as well?" Her voice still in the same detached tenor.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment.

She stared at the younger heir of the Uchiha Clan. Sasuke was the only one who could surpass Itachi, she was probably the only one to realize this and also the only one to realize that when that void, filled with rivalry and resentment, was gone….

There would be nothing left.

Her lips parted and her eyes became vacant.

_Stop trying to become your brother…_

"What is it?" He asked tersely.

She shook her head and walked away. Turning away from the foolish boy.

"…nothing."

XxX

Composed.

That was the perfect adjective to describe her.

Yes, Yui Uchiha was a very composed person.

Especially since she was to be the next clan matriarch.

So, as future matriarch of the great Uchiha Clan she looked at the girl before her with a composed and calm face, despite the words spewing from the girl's lips.

"I saw them Yui-san, I really did." The girl, she forgot her name, was one of the many who adored her dearly betrothed but kept their distance and for some unknown reason were ever loyal to her. She never understood it, but here was this girl that was deathly afraid of her affianced, but somewhere in that delusional brain of hers was the notion that kept her away from Itachi and close to her.

Which of course was strange, to say the least. However, it had its uses.

For fan girls were excellent spies-

When Itachi wanted to be seen, of course.

"Them?" Her fluid voice questioned stately.

"H-Hai, he was with a small woman. They were talking and Itachi-kun smiled at her and then…she got really jealous when I only asked him for tea!"

"I see." Her elegant brows furrowed. "What was her name?"

"He called her Higurashi." The waitress told her simply. "Yui-san?"

"Hm?"

"If they were on a date…does that mean t-that…Itachi-kun has a _girlfriend?!_"

Now this really was not a problem. To be honest, Yui knew the state of Uchiha heir's chastity which was, in no way, shape or form intact.

How did she know such things?

Simple.

She had asked him.

Yui remembered confronting him a few years back after hearing Shisui go on about the brothels in Tori no Kuni. She remembered her fury and his unconcerned expression as she screamed at him.

In short, Yui found out that Itachi could be disturbingly upfront about things and reminded her that his business did not concern her until they were wedded.

Of course, one could not call themselves an Uchiha unless they were to pry into the business of others!

So Yui listened to her fiancé's premature extramarital affairs with a demure composure and silent thoughts as she threaded her thin fingers through her straight black hair that hung limply down her back. Her dark angled eyes watched the cheery girl give her a full report on exactly what happened with her affianced's _date_. Thin lips were drawn in a firm line as Itachi's casual behavior was mentioned.

Her slender hands burrowed themselves into the silk of her summer yukata. White silk accented by the vermillion stitching of dragons and charcoal trim was what she had adorned herself with today; along with the customary Uchiwa fan in hand and it emblazoned on the nape of her yukata, Yui waved the girl off promptly after she finished and started to prattle.

She fanned her slender neck, her peachy skin starting to dampen due to the heat. She wiped a droplet from her gaunt features as she tucked a thin lock of hair behind her ear.

Whether Itachi participated in the acts of coition was not the problem!

No, it was the fact that he was continuing to have a relationship with the girl.

They were betrothed for kami's sake! She had remained 'pure' while Itachi had sated himself whenever he felt the _itch_. An itch that he always seemed to be able to scratch out of country! With no witnesses… She shuddered at the thought of Shisui at that moment.

In her opinion it was disrespectful to their noble Clan. To flaunt some low-born whore in broad day light was a complete slap in the face. She gritted her teeth.

It seemed she would be having a nice little chat with Itachi.

Now all she had to do was find the bastard…

…but then again, she wouldn't mind finding the ANBU bitch first.

After all, they didn't call her Ryū no Yui for no reason.

XxX

"Your stance is weak."

Kagome lunged at Naruto like a cat pouncing on mouse. They been at it for hours now, after Kagome had left Sasuke to train alone for awhile, she had taken over for Kakashi who had been helping Naruto with his chakra control. Granted he wasn't as talented as Sakura but he looked immaculate compared to Naruto's sloppy channeling that he dared call chakra control.

But now, he was with Kagome, who was to say the least beating the shit out of him.

It was simple really.

She was to help him perfect his chakra manipulation in his kunai and his overall fighting style. Which from she had told him was inefficient in the excess amount of chakra and energy he wasted in rushed attacks, sloppy technique and poor planning.

His chakra enhanced kunai locked with her equally augmented wakizashi. They clashed with metallic scrape that would make anyone cringe.

Naruto leaned into her, his size and muscle easily pushing her back. Kagome shoved forward in a spurt of energy, driving Naruto back minimally but just enough to pull her blade away and flicker out of sight. The blonde stumbled forward a bit with the lack of an opponent to lean on.

Naruto felt the tingle of chakra brush past his ear just in time to whip around and catch Kagome's poised wakizashi.

"Good." She smirked as he had parried her aim for the throat perfectly. His timing was getting much better.

Unfortunately though, Naruto's stance was still weak and thus he had caught her at an angle leaving body slightly off balance…

With a swift kick, Naruto was on his back before her could blink.

Kagome dropped a knee to his chest and her wakizashi to his throat.

Her shadowed blue eyes met with his glinting cerulean. It was clear from their position and her calm stare that their spar was over.

_I win._

"For now." He spoke with a fanged smirk as the tip of her blade pressed precariously over his throbbing jugular.

"Kagome-chan!"

Kagome's head whipped to the sound as Naruto could only strain his eyes to see a pink haired girl in a vibrantly red cheongsam with yukata styled sleeves bounding rapidly in their direction.

Sakura panted slightly as she stood before Kagome and greeted her cheerily. Sakura began to prattle about her day as Kagome semi-listened but kept her blade poised at Naruto's neck.

"Uh Sakura-chan?" Naruto called out anxiously. "A little help?"

Sakura's gleaming jade eyes glanced at Naruto who looked like he was about to have his neck sliced. Sakura shrugged and looked back Kagome with a wide grin. "Slit his throat for all I care."

Kagome smirked.

Naruto paled.

"Now Kagome-san, it isn't nice to kill your teammates." Interjected an apathetic voice.

Kakashi strode over to his two students and newly endowed ANBU counterpart with a languorous gait and little orange book in hand. His masked face further obscured by his hitae-ate and his obscene book.

Reluctantly, Kagome relieved Naruto of her blade as he stood erect before Kakashi.

The copy-nin obviously had left Sasuke to his own devices for a reason and Kagome had a funny feeling, it had to do with her.

Naruto stood up as he rubbed his neck.

"Naruto, why don't you go spare with Sasuke." Kakashi suggested lightly.

"Yeah… Maybe he could use his sparkling needles on me." Naruto ran a hand through his messy locks.

"I'm sure it won't be too uneventful." Kakashi assured Naruto, knowing the blonde was in for a big surprise when he found out that Sasuke could channel his Lightning chakra through more than just a puny senbon.

Naruto had already started to walk, with hands shoved in pockets and head down. "Whatever." He said unconvinced.

Sakura watched as a disheartened Naruto treaded over to the other training grounds where Sasuke was probably practicing with his new _toy._ "I've never seen Naruto look so unhappy to spare with Sasuke…" Sakura said absently.

"Aa…He is quite fond of Kagome-san." Kakashi looked over the short ANBU in front of him and focused on his pink-haired student. "Though I don't see why…"

"I'm right here."

"Of course you are." Kakashi tousled her short locks. "Now Kagome-san, do you have a moment."

Kagome shrugged.

"Uh… Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi's half-lidded grey eye locked onto his bright student. "What is it, Sakura?" He asked politely.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Spar with Sasuke."

"Naruto is already doing that." She drawled.

"Aa…I see." He scratched his masked chin in thought. "Then run in circles or something."

Sakura plopped herself on the grass with arms crossed and a glare fixated teacher.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book… "I have to speak with Kagome-san…_alone_."

Sakura covered her ears as she continued to glare.

Kakashi pocketed his book, approached his pouting student and with a swift poke to the forehead, Sakura slumped forward into the grass.

Kagome raised a brow, a Paralysis Jutsu seemed a little much in her opinion.

Kakashi turned back to the ANBU preteen with a solemn look in his one grey eye.

"What is it?" She snapped, obviously the ex-ANBU Captain had something to tell her.

"Central Unit has been mulling over what to do with you." Kakashi's dark tone caught her off guard slightly.

She ran her lissome fingers through her cleanly cut raven locks. "What's their problem now?"

"Are you worth the risk?"

"Risk?" She repeated heatedly.

"What you did a few months ago, put your fellow ANBU at risk."

"All the more reason to keep my solo status, to keep my _fellow_ ANBU from harm." She sneered lowly.

"Your status was a privilege, you abused it and now you are going to pay the consequences."

Two anomalous eyes glared behind a shredded curtain of black.

"You will be assigned to a three man squadron."

"Not a full platoon?" She questioned lightly, her brows furrowed in confusion. "I am a Capt-"

"A Captain who must take responsibility for her actions." Kakashi retorted sharply.

Kagome sighed. "Alright… who is on my …_team."_ She flinched at the term.

Kakashi's eye crinkled as he tousled the little ANBU's hair. "You are quite the unsociable little one, aren't you?" Kagome ducked out from under the copy-nin's grasp and scowled. "Well, Kagome-san…they don't know yet."

Kagome studied the man before her.

He scratched the back of his neck with a crinkled eye. "It all depends on who passes the examination, Kagome-san." He reminded her lightly, everyone knew that teams would most likely be rearranged once the new examinees were inducted into the ANBU ranks.

"What division?" She asked tersely.

"Ah now this is the fun part..." Kakashi mused to himself in a suddenly winsome tenor. "Your new team is going to be extra special." He poked her nose earning another scowl.

"Special?" She didn't like the sound of it.

"Aa… Your new team is an experiment of sorts, for you will have no division to report too. Except for the Hokage, of course." Kakashi glanced up at the yellowing sky. "You simply work where you are needed."

_Completely independent…_

It would be more freedom than when she was doing solo missions.

She smirked. "Kakashi-sama-"

"Kagome-san if you call me that one mo-"

"Sempai." She quickly supplemented. "Who suggested such a thing?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Why?"

Kagome twirled on her heel and stalked rigidly out of the clearing like a cat on the prowl.

"Kagome-san?" Kakashi called after the girl walking in predatory gait. "Where are you going?"

"To kill a rat."

XxX

With a final swipe of the cloth, the porcelain mask was finally clean, save for a few more scratches on its smooth surface. The brilliant vermillion lines were etched heavily into the leering face of the rat.

The rat mask was placed on a low nightstand with steady knock.

Itachi leaned back on his futon and eventually let his back fully compress with soft silk. His agile form draped over the futon making the bed seem small when horizontally lying on the futon. He turned his head to and outstretched hand, his long fingers lingered over the dark silk; it was quite tedious to have silk for he always had to buy a new set whenever he bled out from a reopened wound.

Of course that was in his much younger days when he would regularly get injured. Prodigy or not, thirteen was too young to be in ANBU. He remembered how he struggled just to keep up with his fellow Captains while his platoon seemed to always want to undermine his authority. Yes. Being in ANBU was hard, he would admit that much. Especially when so young.

No matter how much skill one has, there is something that experience offers that skill does not. Six years in ANBU had taught him that and now he no longer was wounded so severely anymore.

He closed his eyes, while most children were scolded for wetting the bed; Itachi had been for bleeding out in his bed.

Truly a forlorn life he led.

But then again, prodigies usually did just that.

An image of a young girl with shadowed eyes dressed in unrelented black flashed across his mindset.

Ah, he forgot about the girl's age. He seemed to do that quite often...

Such a foolish creature she was, too associate with a monster like him.

But then again, she seemed to always flirt with death and seemed to have no qualms to succumb to its temptation.

He opened his eyes, the red orange glow of the sultry sun cast deep shadows across the ceiling.

A crow cawed in the distance; it let out a very distinct ragged cry.

It seemed that Tengu had spotted his fellow ANBU Captain. Itachi continued to stare at the ceiling, unperturbed.

Of course the slight breeze and hum of chakra was all the warning he needed as a small girl flickered into his vision.

"Boo."

Kagome stood over Itachi, her feet silently walking on the silken covers as her blue grey eyes looked down at the Uchiha Prodigy.

He stared past her, the warm hued ceiling seemed more interesting then the young prodigy standing over him. He did not move. He did not blink. He just stared blankly at the ceiling.

He felt the nudge at his ribs as Kagome prodded him with her foot. "It's rude to ignore guests."

He raised a brow as his dark gaze landed on her. "On the contrary Higurashi-san, it is rude to walk on other's furniture."

"Hn." Her eyes glowed in the dimming light, becoming shadowed by the black curtain that framed her face and hung down as she looked down on him.

Itachi stared unflinchingly at her, his gaze weighing down on her intensely. But she didn't break his gaze.

Conceding to the fact that one could never win at a staring contest with an Uchiha, Kagome stepped sharply down off the futon.

Itachi blinked and Kagome watched as his angled lashes lingered on his regally lean features. She leaned against the wall and watched the unusually still Uchiha.

"You know, it's dangerous to be so careless." She remarked on his current position. To be so relaxed made him seem so.

Itachi sat up with elegance of sleeping panther, muscles moving sinuously and stretching languidly. His claws clutched his cheek, his predatory eyes gleaming as they locked onto her with a dark serenity. "I can assure you Higurashi-san, that it is far more dangerous for anyone to think I am… _careless_."

She closed her eyes and raised her head, exposing her neck. "My mistake." Her eyes opened slightly, glistening blue slits shone in a murky radiance. "Now, about those mission reports…"

Itachi's eyes slid over to the low reading desk, papers scattered in an organized clutter.

Kagome plopped herself stubbornly in front of the desk, her pale fingers outstretching to grasp onto a thin sheet of paper. Iridescent orbs of graying blue scanned over the parchment, over the miscellaneous hiragana and eventually her eyes narrowed.

She sighed and irritatingly held out the paper in front of Itachi's arching form. "Dispel the double genjustu." She said exasperatedly, it was one thing to have the basic ANBU genjutsu placed on one's documents to make them blank, but it was another to place another illusion on top of that to have something completely different written.

Honestly, he was so paranoid.

Itachi stared at the paper with a serene expression.

"Arigato." She thanked as she felt the chakra dissipate as the illusion was dispelled. Her eyes once again perusing over the report, then she picked up another and did the same. Repeating this process swiftly until she had glanced over most of the information and had it memorized. "So what is the problem?" She queried as she glanced up at Itachi.

His shoulder blades were prominent under his dark shirt as he arched like a lazing predator. "Rogue-nin are getting through our borders and slipping through the Perambulation Squads."

Kagome's mind wandered over to the prior morning she found Itachi's hands covered in blood as he was returning from a mission…

"_A group of rogue-nin were sighted five kilometers away from Konoha in the northeastern quadrant."_

"_How did they get past our borders?" She asked systematically._

"_That is why one of them is still alive."_

"_And with Ibiki-san." She supplemented._

"_Hai..."_

"This is not anything new, nuke-nin have always been a nuisance." She reminded him as she flipped through more reports, her pallid fingers browsing the parchments as the shuffle of papers was heard.

"It is one group in particular, that continuously gets through our borders, is what's concerning Central Unit." Itachi informed her fluidly with an indolent stare.

"A gang." Kagome surmised, her eyes never leaving the paper in her grasp.

"Aa… but it is this specific group that maintains passage through our borders, _untouched_."

"That is concerning." Kagome deadpanned. "Do you have a map?" She turned to him in a flurry of black that plastered itself to her pale flesh like black lace.

Itachi nodded tersely as his gaze landed onto a drawer in the desk.

Quickly Kagome opened the drawer and pulled out a folded paper. She unfolded it in a blur and slapped the atlas on the desk with steady thud. "The first point of infiltration was 5 kilometers west of the northern border town." Her finger slid over to the breach on the map and then continuously slid over border to name several other points. "…and finally a raid on Tanzaku village means that the last breach occurred along Ame or Kawa's borders."

"That's quite an assumption."

"Not really, nuke-nin are very frantic when they travel and so would have taken to the forests in order to avoid any unwanted attention especially if they wanted to get away from our ANBU." Kagome marked the last point with a deft tap, each prodigy remembering each infiltration spot from memory.

Itachi said nothing as he stared at the map, if looks could kill, the map would be in burning shreds by now.

"It's not random." Kagome suddenly said with brows furrowed. "It is a pattern."

Itachi's eyes locked onto her, studying her with gleaming dark obsidian. "How so?"

"Look." She pointed to a spot on the map. "They are using our patrol patterns against us. Each squad has intervals in which they meet with another squadron, overlapping one another, creating a blind spot in which the nuke-nin have exploited."

"Central Unit has already inputted this information." Itachi informed her, his voice seemed to hold a distant dissatisfaction with her.

Her eyes glanced at him. "I'm not finished." She rejoined brusquely. "Due to our landscape, they inputted that it is very flat and easy to travel so they have the advantage to use odd numbered latitude and longitude along with two to seven day intervals." She smirked as she leaned back. "This would make the infiltrations seem completely random."

Itachi nodded slightly, it was reasonable to reach such a conclusion. The days of the breaches were two to seven days apart, along with the fact that they were able to exploit the blind spots within the Perambulations Unit flawlessly had all been considered, however the odd numbered coordinates was something he had not factored in.

"Which means one thing…" She began. "There is a leak within the Perambulations Unit."

"I will inform the Hokage." Itachi stated smoothly, knowing that this information had to be handled carefully if they wanted to catch the rat.

"You could have done this on your own." Kagome commented as she set down the papers.

"Hai…I could have." He replied darkly, his gaze intensely laying on her small form.

She shifted slightly, it was unnerving to have such a dangerous force be so focused on you.

She turned to him timidly, her voice quiet. "Then why am I here?"

A small upturn of the lips made her internally shiver and her hands grow clammy.

"And… I thought acquaintances didn't need a reason to see one another, Higurashi-san."

Kagome inhaled sharply, a sharp pain in her throat ached burningly… She clenched her hands, dismissing the impulse as she looked at Itachi. "I see you have trouble saying friends." She sneered weakly, her voice hoarse.

Itachi raised a brow at her little episode.

Kagome looked away; she didn't like how he looked at her. It was like he was toying with her, showing concern for her one moment then dismissing her in the next.

She breathed as she rubbed her neck, her hands delving beneath dark fabric to soothe the aching muscles. "Why do keep staring at me?" She hissed lowly, her dusted grey eyes staying focused upfront.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Her eyes became shadowed by an inky curtain of black. "You are making others uncomfortable with your fixation…" Her fingers kneaded the bruised skin on her slender neck. "…and from what I have observed, you do everything for a reason, Uchiha-san."

Itachi watched her with an amused glint in his eyes. She evaded questions as a cat avoided a dog. "I can assure you, Higurashi-san, that I do not have ulterior motives in regards to _you_."

Something cold shot between her shoulder blades. "Then you do have them." She rejoined coldly.

"Hai…though, they do not concern you." He clipped.

Her head whipped around in his direction, her iridescent eyes of blue grey afire. His tone was the same as it was with Shisui this afternoon. She stared at him hard, his poised features staying coolly amused as he watched her carefully, even without the Sharingan his eyes didn't miss a thing.

"Everyone has ulterior motives, Higurashi-san." His tone melded back into the dark mirth it had held moments before.

"You are not just _everyone_, Uchiha-san."

He smirked softly. "I'm flattered."

"It wasn't a compliment." She quipped. "You do everything for a reason Uchiha-san, so why do you make your fixation so blatantly obvious?"

"Hm." His eyes gleamed in the dying light of the day. "Fixation…" His tongue rolled over the word. "Is that what you call it?"

Her heart fluttered like a bird caught in a net. "You're avoiding my question."

Itachi's smirk never faded and his eyes lay familiarly heavy on her. "For one, Higurashi-san, I do not intentionally make my association with you… _obvious_." He informed her emotionally, his callous façade did not discourage her.

"_I do not care what others think of me." _

His former words echoed through her mindset.

"Nor do I conceal it, either." He finished coldly. His angled eyes seemed to burn with a bemused annoyance. "Are you uncomfortable with the situation?" He asked smoothly, his voice was too ideal for that sentence.

"No…I am not." She replied strongly. "I just want to make sure you are not playing mind games with me."

"I would never dream of such a thing, Higurashi-san." He stated, darkly winsome.

"Hn." He lifted her nose in a chauvinistic grunt. "You are a very strange man, Uchiha-san."

"If I was anyone else I would be insulted." He retorted fluidly.

"Then what are you?" She asked distantly as her eyes achingly glanced at him. She seemed unsure about her thoughts.

The simper never faltered from his lips. "Curious."

She broke his gaze swiftly.

_Curiosity…_

"_I've seen many things in my life… but nothing quite. Like. __You."_

"_You are a novelty."_

"Uchiha-san…" Her tone meek as she played with the folded corner of a paper; Itachi's words resonating through her mind with an echoing whisper that haunted her thoughts.

His obsidian orbs, cold, black and deadly, flicked onto her busying hands; watching her do such a simplistic movement but knowing it held a greater reason.

So like him…

Yet so different.

Where his childhood had been ripped from his life and butchered into nothing but poisoned black shreds, hers was graying…

Her childhood had not been fully taken away.

But it still held the taint, the poisoned shadow that grayed her irises with a murky shade that dusted across her once brilliantly gleaming eyes.

She was the graying innocence. The innocence that refused to die and wanted to fight.

_Innocence…_

Something he had been deprived of, he had never known such a fragile virtue.

Delicate it was. But persevering. It clung onto her being like a child who clings to the last shred of youth.

His life… was deprived of it. Deprived of so many things. An empty shell of a life, an empty shell that was so dark and vile, even he feared what he was capable of.

True perfection.

A true prodigy.

A true monster.

"Why are you…so fixated?"

_On me…_

"_You've never had someone truly trust you?"_

"_I trust you." _

"…_you have no one who truly trusts you…so it frustrates you."_

He was a man, who had no desires, no dreams, no hope…

Just desires, expectations and empty pride placed onto him.

Truly a hollow life he lived.

A life lived on the desires of others.

This empty shell of a life meant nothing to him.

Except his precious fixation.

For once, in this forlorn shell of a life he would-

"You are my indulgence."

A soft smile curved in her lips, her eyes glimmering with an innocent blue.

Such a foolish creature, to linger near such a monster.

He felt a small force knock into his chest and small arms wrap around his ribs.

"_I will never judge you…" _

Such a lucky monster, for her to linger.

XxX

She stared blankly.

At the ceiling.

_Again. _

It seemed to be habit of both them, especially since she had caught Itachi doing exactly that, when she had entered his domicile.

It had been quite easy, to sneak past the compound's sentries and inhabitants to reach her newly endowed_ friend_. Her chakra signature had been suppressed and her feet glided over the rooftops silently as her small form clung to the shadows. Really it had been so easy, until…

A big ass bird saw her.

It was Itachi's summon and from the dark sentient gleam in its eyes, it obviously pretty damn intelligent.

At least _it_ carried _that_ from its arrogant master as well as his never failing habit to ruffle her feathers, no pun intended.

Which it exemplified by letting out a loud ragged caw, clearing alerting its master of her presence as well as every other Uchiha in the area.

She hated that bird.

And she hated looking over mission reports, especially when a department was too lazy and handed them to the nearest prodigy.

Who also was too lazy, in his own right, and used this to goad a visit out of her.

His eyes flashed through her mind.

"_You are my indulgence." _

It was a twisted whisper that reverberated through her temples.

She remembered many things of that conversation but most of all she remembered the steady beat of his heart…

Sighing she tossed her head to the side, feeling her cheeks burn.

Her eyes narrowed in on the time of night it was.

_10: 07_

She turned away from the clock, her head rustling the sheets of her futon. She was tired, but she was restless.

She sighed as she turned on her side again.

And then again.

_And then again. _

She sat up sharply, hands rubbing her temples, her eyes, her cheeks…

She yawned needlessly.

She felt something jump up on the bed.

Her blue grey eyes flicked over to Buyo. The plump feline stretched and yawned, showing its little fangs and pink tongue.

The cat eyed its owner, its gold eyes gleaming as it curled itself into a plump ball of fur.

"At least you can sleep." She murmured.

Her eyes drifted over to her nightstand, the dark wood appeared black in the night, a small cluster of pills and a note lay conspicuously there.

_Shikamaru…_

She'd been avoiding him like the plague ever since her mental evaluation with Ibiki.

It was only a matter of time before he informed Shikaku that he had not contacted her in the past day or so.

It would really take nothing for the Jounin Commander to inform Central Unit that one of their captains is acting peculiar, thus pulling her out of the ranks and on probation _again._

She really needed to find better company, rather than genius men who seemed to meddle with her life constantly.

Finding herself with nothing else to do, Kagome picked up the note and perused over the four little words.

_We need to talk. _

"Hn." And she tossed the note. It seemed she would be seeing her dearly beloved foster family sooner than later.

It wasn't that she didn't care for them, she did. Deeply so, in fact.

It was just hard.

She exhausted them, made them weary with her… problems.

She remembered how she awoke in the hospital, seeing Yoshino weeping over her bedside and Shikaku leaning against the wall, his head down with eyes closed as if he couldn't even look at her. He was ashamed of what she did.

To abandon one's squad, engage an enemy and purposely be defeated was cowardice, plain and simple.

She remembered how Shikamaru wasn't there.

She closed her eyes.

After that, Shikamaru no longer regarded her with his usual standoffish personality. There were no more philosophical discussions under the clouds, there were no more casual Shogi games in which he would always lose and become enamored by her strategies. There were no more suggestions to stop being so troublesome and no more taunts on his laziness or lack of drive.

There was just no more…

He was guarded to her to her now. He held a bitterness that she could taste in his words and feel in his eyes.

She had hurt him. She had hurt his father. She had hurt his mother. She had hurt herself.

She had betrayed them.

They were only ones who seemed to care for her and they had distanced themselves from her.

She understood and so she distanced herself.

She came by for dinner once in awhile.

Yoshino would cook for her and would practically break when she barely ate. The woman did not pressure her though, so careful with her words and so tender with her suggestions, Kagome felt guilt throttle her heart whenever she was around that troublesome woman.

Shikaku was gruff with her, asking her about her thoughts on various topics and nodding as he took in her opinion. He watched her carefully, as if she was a stranger about to betray them again. He didn't trust her anymore.

Shikamaru watched the clouds with her still but no longer discussed profound ideologies with her nor did he care for her opinion. He didn't care for Shogi either for he didn't care her complex strategies or her brilliant tactics.

It was just empty.

Empty bitterness and resentment.

So she avoided them, hoping that one day their weakened bonds would be forgotten and maybe disap-

"_Mew." _

Kagome opened her eyes to her feline companion. "What is it?"

They just stared; slit golden orbs watched her eerily.

"Gomen ne, Buyo I am not going to forget about Nara." She said annoyed.

The patched neko settled itself back onto the futon once more, its eyes closing and ears flicking about occasionally.

Kagome raised a brow at her cat's timing as she outstretched a hand to reach for her medication-

"_Mew." _

Kagome head whipped around at the peering cat, who blinked innocently with glowing eyes. "Fine." And Kagome laid back down which Buyo quickly mimicked.

She stared blankly.

At the ceiling.

_Again. _

Minutes passed, her eyes became unfocused, mind blank and lids closed…

She awoke with a sharp breath.

"_Mew." _

Her eyes strained to the little ball of her on her stomach and then flittered over to the clock.

_10: 52_

She sighed as she patted the purring neko. "I can't sleep…" The cat nuzzled its wet nose into her palm and purred even louder. "Alright, but if I wake up screaming…it's your fault."

The cat was already asleep.

Kagome quickly followed…

…_the path that led through the forest. Her feet toddled over the dirt road. _

_Someone called her name- screamed it. _

_She turned her head, a woman was running towards her. Her kimono was so strange. _

_All she saw was white and red as she swooped up into the woman's grasp; her hands were shaking as she held her close to her bosom. _

_She felt something warm leak through her kimono, it stuck to her skin and made her nose cringe. _

"_Haha-ue?" Her voiced croaked. "Where is Inu-"_

_The woman kept on running. "Not now, Kagome." She hushed, her sweet voice was trembling. _

_The woman's heart was erratic as her ear was placed firmly on her chest and her breathing was frantic. _

_She felt the sticky warmth leak onto her cheek, she leaned back and gasped. _

"_Haha-ue!" She screamed. "You're hurt!" Her voice broke pitifully as she brought a stained hand away from her mother's once pristine white haori. _

"_Not now, Kagome." She brushed away her concern weakly as her voice wavered. Her steps faltered for a moment until her legs gave out completely; falling forward with toddler in her arms and wound in her chest. _

_Kagome cried out as they fell, hard earth crushing her and her mother landing limply on her. Stones dug into her cheeks as warm liquid pooled over her, she could hardly breathe. _

_She tried to lift her mother off of her, but it was useless. _

"_Haha-ue…" She choked out as her eyes overflowed. "…please…get up." _

_She felt the woman quiver, moan and eventually roll off. _

_Immediately, Kagome was on her knees, hovering over her mother with hands aglow. _

_Her hands were knocked away with a wet hand. _

"_There are some wounds, Kagome-chan…" Her face was a blur but she knew her mother was smiling. "…that cannot be healed." _

_Slender stained fingers rubbed over pudgy palms. "Run…" Her mother's voice was but a faint whisper. "…and don't look back." _

_Kagome just stared. _

"_Go!" Her mother's voice was so sharp it hurt. _

_There was a low rumble in the distance…_

"_Now!" And she was pushed so sharply she stumbled backwards, her hands cut by the small stones. _

_The child ran into the forest. _

_Ran into the night._

_The night that held an eclipsed moon swaddled in a starless sky. _

_Branches reached out to scrape her cheeks as roots tangled around her ankles, tripping her as she splintered her hands. She quickly stood again, her eyes looking up at the once white moon. _

_The moon bled. _

_She heard a scream. _

"_Haha-ue…"She whispered. _

_Tears streamed as a terrified wail erupted from her throat. _

_He was after her now. _

_No one was to save her. _

_She started to run again. _

_She just needed to get over this hill…_

_Her small hands grasped frantically at the clumps of foliage as she climbed. She reached the crest of the knoll with an exhausted cry. _

_She looked up-_

_The bleeding moon mocked her, laughed at how her once pure and beautiful mother now lay dead in the night. _

_The moon laughed…_

_The moon split. _

_The moon became afire with a searing vermillion that bled. Mutated was its markings, darkening and swirling. _

"_Come with me." _

_The black sky twisted and contorted until it reached out to her like a dark hand. _

_She screamed…_

_Her hip burned. _

_She screamed until her throat bled and she saw white. _

"Kagome."

Her whole body convulsed as she was shaken awake.

She felt numb as she swayed limply in the person's grasp.

"Kagome."

Her vision was blurred, her cheeks hot and wet.

She blinked. Dark eyes…

They were not red.

She felt hands hold onto her arms so tight, it hurt. "I'm not going with…" She whispered incoherently as her eyes grayed over.

Hands dug sharply into her skin. "Kagome."

Her eyes widened, dark obsidian orbs sunk into alabaster flesh as thin cheek bones struck out against ample lips.

Something in her chest heaved, surging out from her throat into a hopeless cry.

Her face broke as her eyes shut closed, her lips quivered and her cheeks became splattered.

She crashed into his chest with a heaving relieved cry.

Itachi just laid there.

He was always one to go on his instincts and this time he couldn't have been more right when he had found himself unable to sleep and at the window of her apartment.

But it was too late.

It had only taken a moment…

For this perfection of a girl to be reduced to a sobbing wreck of fear stricken grief.

He let his eyes glaze over, feeling his shirt dampen and tuned out her muffled screams.

Kagome clenched her hands into fists tightly as she tried to hold in a cry. But it was no use as it came forth with a force that burned her gullet. The wails were like hot metal scraping at her throat, making it burn and the wounds fester.

She felt Itachi's form slacken as she heaved muffled cries into his chest and she felt cold fingers uncurl her tiny fists. A calloused thumb ran over the split palm, blood smearing on both.

"Who was it?"

His voice was deathly calm.

Kagome heaved, as her body trembled in his grasp.

-

-

-

-

"Madara."

XxX

And so the world flew by.

Kagome grasped onto the one thing that offered anything.

Her harms coiled around Itachi's neck as her head lay on his back, his heart fluttered strongly in his ribs. She felt his lithe body glide over the rooftops, she felt his muscles move sinuously as his unbound hair flittered against her cheek.

Buildings slid past as her eyes drooped and her tears sluggishly fell.

The world was just filled with dark shades of grey at the moment.

She blacked out.

Until they landed somewhere, soundlessly of course, and as Itachi skulked about the earth like a deathly wraith, Kagome just stared with wide glistening grey eyes at the white moon…

The moon was quickly replaced by a ceiling as Kagome felt herself placed on a futon.

The moment he turned away from her was the first time she spoke his name.

"Itachi." She hissed, arm outstretched at his departing back and unbound hair. Kagome reached out.

He didn't dare turn around.

She grasped solidly on the fabric of his sleeping shirt, pulling weakly down.

Itachi sat on his futon with a rigid movement.

Kagome sat up with a rustle of sheets and snaked her arms around his back and arching ribs. Placing a cheek on his spine, Kagome spoke in a numb whisper as tears streamed unconsciously. "If you leave…"

Itachi turned around.

Kagome grasped onto the one thing that offered anything.

"…then we're both alone."

Itachi held onto the one thing that offered _everything. _

Kami forsake him, he was in deep now.

XxX

Dawn broke that morning.

And the inhabitants of Konoha commented on the unnatural fog that pervaded this summer morning as well as the absence of song from the morning choir of birds.

But, like most things it was dismissed for it was simply something out of the ordinary and when living in a ninja village one dismissed many peculiarities.

However, for one man, this grey morning seemed to be fitting especially when staring at the graying eyes of an innocent girl.

The unnatural white morning light plastered itself onto the girl's skin and every other surface in his room.

She stared blankly at the ceiling with glazed over and sunken in eyes.

Itachi watched as the morning blue lightened into an eerie white.

He had never missed a sunrise.

He sat with his back against the wall, arms laying on the futon and Kagome's head on his thigh.

They hadn't slept.

She hadn't moved or blinked, in what seemed like hours.

A moment passed and Kagome picked up a slender arm, her eyes became fixated on the lean muscled limb.

Itachi watched as the small girl examined him so fiercely. His dark eyes watched as she bowed his wrist and curved a long digit.

"What are you doing?" His tone richly curious at the creature in his lap.

She looked up and shrugged as cherub lips quirked into a faint smile. Opalescent eyes gazed trustingly up at him as a mop of inky black hair pooled beneath her head.

"Go to sleep." He retracted his limb from her grasp and laid it on his lean stomach.

Her eyes were already closed.

XxX

The moment Kagome woke up was the moment she realized that Itachi was gone and there was someone opening the door to his room.

Kagome sat erect, the silken sheets drooping past her form as the door slid open with a long creak.

Shisui Uchiha had seen many things in his life, some horrifying, some weird, some random and some he just didn't even want to remember.

But this was the first time- Shisui actually didn't believe his eyes.

No.

He definitely wasn't seeing.

His chibi.

Wearing Itachi's shirt.

In his bed.

_It must be the lack of the sleep…_ He assured his frantic psyche that was about to disembowel his favorite little cousin.

So Shisui watched as the hallucination stared at him, got out of bed and hopped out the window without a word.

Shisui closed the door, slowly feeling as if he had just imagined the most horrifying experience.

Maybe Itachi was playing some sick genjutsu on him _again_… yeah, that was definitely it.

XxX

"Itachi." Shisui's booming voice resounded through the eating area.

Itachi felt a pressure in between his temples form; it was amazing how he could do that.

Sasuke glanced in the direction of his elder cousin, who was looming in the doorway and practically seething. Sasuke brushed it off, knowing it did not concern him and continued his reading as he sat at the low dining table.

Itachi paid him no intention as he focused on his objective. His dark eyes focused on the contraption on the counter…

Shisui stalked over to the kitchen area, leaned against the counter with arms crossed and sharpened eyes. "What are you doing?" He asked unnervingly simple.

"Making toast." Itachi replied fluidly.

"You don't eat toast." Sasuke pointed out steadily, his dark eyes never leaving his scroll.

Itachi's eyes stayed focused on the metal contraption.

_I do now._

"When did this start?" Shisui snapped quickly.

Itachi turned to his bulkier cousin, his face unsettlingly placid. "Quite recently."

"Did you ever think…that maybe toast is unhealthy for you and if anyone ever found out you liked toast it would be very very _bad_?" Shisui exclaimed with a wide eyed expression.

"I believe that you are taking my fondness for toast a bit too seriously."

"Then how serious is it?" Shisui leaned forward, obviously invading the precious personal space of his cousin.

"Something is burning." Sasuke drawled.

"See what happens when you like toast!" Shisui pointed to the black piece of bread. "You're hurting the toast for your own selfish needs!"

Itachi began to walk past his cousin with toast in hand.

Shisui flickered into the doorway, his form effectively blocking Itachi, _temporarily._

"You don't want toast." He made a grab for the charred bread.

"And why is that?" Itachi easily evaded his grasp.

"Well for one, toast will be ruin of you and if anyone found out that you had a little obsession episode again then you'd be sent straight to Morino-san for a mental evaluation." His voice was but a sharp whisper.

Itachi stared at him with an expressionless countenance.

"Plus, your… _hunger_ jumped out of the window."

Itachi blinked.

"I'm serious." Shisui deadpanned. "Like, sayounara… out the window." He made hand signs to animate such a thing.

He was already heading out the door.

"Oi!" Shisui flickered out of sight.

Sasuke stared at his scroll and plopped a rice ball into his mouth.

_Freaks…_

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Well this is what happens when you are COMPLETELY nocturnal. Your mind wanders on these random tangents when you're making toast… and going to bed at 9:30 am. Yeah! That's right, I stay up to around 6 am but last night (or morning) I went to bed at 9:30…typing! So for the love of Itachi! Give me a review! I accept anonymous reviews now! Flame on!

Happy Belated Birthday Sasuke! I hope you avenge Itachi by killing Danzo! (throws confetti)

**Author's Note:** This chapter involved quite a bit of character depth in my opinion. I went into the Nara's relationship because…well it was long overdue. Mainly because I forgot about them…anyways! We got a glimpse at Yui and I kind of like her. Well, I guess I enjoy writing about her. But not as much as Kagome snuggling with Itachi! (^-^) Talk about awkward…and it seems we get a better look at Kagome's past. Italics were practically blinding by the end! Stupid flashbacks! Which by the way is how each chapter is going to start… flashbacks. (sorry if you don't like, but well the little emotional breakdown has to be shown someway or the other)

**Ryū no Yui-** Yui of the dragon. Dragons spew fire… so yeah, this is both figurative and literal. :D

Well you know the drill! Go **review **this and then _War Dance_ if you haven't because I'm updating that next!

Oh come on…a little sentence after 14k words? You can't just press the button…I'll tell you what- you rate it through 1-10 basis (10 being the highest) if you don't like reviewing, just do that! It will take you ten seconds! This took me hours!

**Next Chapter: **Love is a dangerous game, especially when you love a prodigy kunoichi, but when you have the Uchiha Prodigy after you. Then its fatal…run Konohamaru!

~KK


	8. Beautiful Mask, Shield Me From My Sins

**Author's Note:** -looks at reviews- I simply…cannot believe the support each and every one of you give me! This chapter frustrated me beyond belief, but when I came to a rough spot, someone reviewed just in the knick of time to get my butt back into gear! So I say thank you to ALL of you! Because I honestly would have given up long ago without you!

**Pairings:** …let me get back to you on that. But I think we all know who basically will be...

**Side parings:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari (These are subject to change! Suggestions are always welcome!)

**Vocabulary:** Yamaneko- Lynx

_Good luck trying to finish this beast! 85 pages! -cackles-_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Six months ago…**_

Her blood froze.

_Literally._

A bare hand grasped onto another jagged rock as she hurled herself upward. Her fingers curled around the serrated stone. She felt numb flesh tear viciously as she scaled the rocky mountain face.

The stone was cold and sharp.

It tore through her thin flesh easily as she ascended the mountainous border of Kaminari no Kuni.

A crack of lightning shot through the dark sky, lashing out against the mountain making it split and rumble; a few stones toppled forth, she splayed herself flat against the rocky crag as the major junks flew past and a few more caught her cheek.

Rain poured, it came down in thick sheets, pelting her cloaked body with sleet that seemed to pause just long enough for the violent winds to chill her already frozen body and then hit her again with another round of icy torrents.

There was nothing better than trying to infiltrate a heavily patrolled country, in the middle of winter and in the midst of the one of the most violent thunderstorms of the year.

Especially with Kumo ANBU patrolling the border, so any chakra usage must be minimal to none and also suppressed to avoid any unwanted attention.

The storm raged on as Kagome barely channeled suppressed spurts of chakra to her frozen limbs.

One wrong move and the storm would sweep her away into a swift death.

Her ANBU mask was gone, her hitae-ate along with it.

This mission… didn't exist.

"_Listen well, Kagome_." The words of her Hokage echoed through her mind louder than any roar of thunder or screech of lighting. _"Your mission is simple, but delicate. You are to infiltrate Kaminari no Kuni, which who we stand on very shaky terms with already and you are to dissemble a crime syndicate within its borders." _

The cold rain started to affect her limbs, she could feel her muscles tensing and her limbs seizing. She could only use so much chakra to avoid the risk of being detected.

"_This syndicate works on promoting themselves as cheap mercenaries who do not have the moral setbacks of Konoha, many have already attempted this but, this group has created a great uproar between smaller countries by encouraging conflict between the Daimyos." Tsunade sighed. "Documents have been forged, leaders manipulated, borders intentionally breached, civilians influenced that war is the only solution and false accusations flying like kunai… There is so much pressure from all sides that the weak minded Daimyos have no choice but to fold… you must stop this before it gets out of control and starts effecting the greater countries." _

She pulled herself up onto a ledge; its rocky surface was slick with congealing ice and sharp enough to create another gash into her already raw skin.

No blood streamed.

Until the thick liquid slipped sickeningly slow out of her palm. Kagome inhaled sharply and felt her lungs clench painfully from the intrusion of cold air.

Her ANBU suit retained body heat effectively but the water seeping through made the wind chill factor deadly.

If she didn't find shelter soon, she was going to die.

"_There is little information on this syndicate, but the little we have has been proven to be extremely difficult to extract… It seems Kaminari no Kuni has been getting a commission in order to keep quiet and they intend to keep it this way… They have total disregard for how serious this situation has become and have made blatant hints that they will continue to disregard this fact just to spite us… you must end this."_

She huddled against the small ice drenched crag and ignored the fact that her body felt like it was on fire.

The lightning cracked and lashed against the mountain, making the stone giant rumble precariously.

Her ears rang for a moment and then she felt something still within in the mountain. She placed a numb palm on the ice cold stone, splaying it over the surface and felt the rock tremble slightly…

Her eyes widened…

A crack started to split the frozen black rock.

Slowly webbing out with its jagged fingers as it began clawing and tearing at the mountain.

The mountain was going to come down on her.

There was no time for covert methods of infiltration. She needed to get off this mountain _now_!

With a sudden rush of fresh adrenaline, she shot off with a burst chakra and began to scale the mountain in a lithe pattern of lunges that resembled a cat climbing a simple tree.

"_Intel tells us that they are within Lightning country as of now, however their leader, location, ultimate goals and most of their clients are all unknown…This would require a full squadron to accomplish, Kagome… but we do not have the resources, so you must go instead." _

The mountain was trembling furiously and the sound of splintering rock could be heard.

She grabbed onto another jutting rock only to have crumble in her grasp.

A loud snap rang out and Kagome glanced up to see rock hailing towards her.

She pushed off with a large burst of chakra and her last vestiges of adrenaline as she landed onto another jutting ledge.

She plastered herself against the mountain as the boulders flew past her. Glancing up, Kagome could distinguish the peak of the mountain.

Her hand desperately dug through her weapon's pouch on her hip until her fingers grasped onto a soldier pill. She popped it into her mouth and let the bitter chakra enhancing stimulants and nutrients course through her system.

She would be needing this…

"_Kagome… if Kaminari catches wind that we are infiltrating their country and dealing with their internal matters… we'll have a war on our hands. Iwa would encourage such a front just as they did with the Hyuuga incident… your name isn't in the bingo books and your face isn't well known making you the perfect candidate for this mission." _

There were seven chakra signatures, pulsing with the itch to fight.

"_War would break out if your allegiance to Konoha was discovered."_

She crested the rocky precipice and landed in a crouch. Her hair hung past in a sopping black curtain and as she stood-

"_This is to never happen, Kagome, however if you are captured, I have to inform you that in order to avoid war…" _

A crack of lightning broke across the grey black sky, the piercing white light illuminated the masks of seven Kaminari ANBU that surrounded her with blades poised for the kill…

"_Konoha will deny your existence, if you are captured there will be no rescue, if you are tortured or your origin is in danger of being discovered, you are to dispose of your body by any means possible. Disposal is your first priority, even if you are still alive…"_

"Hn, well I knew someone was climbing my mountain but I couldn't guess it was going to be a little girl…" The kneeling ANBU stood, his hand lingering on the ground for but a moment before hanging limply by his side. The mountain stilled. "Well, I drew you out easily enough, girl… so might as well give up. I rather not kill a kid."

"She's no kid in my book." A female snapped from behind porcelain. "I've seen her kind… they're more ruthless than any adult."

Another sighed. "So where you from?" He spoke as if they had just been introduced.

Kagome just smirked.

"_As of now, you are alone…"_

"Nowhere."

* * *

_**Present…**_

"_I'm serious." Shisui deadpanned. "Like, sayounara… out the window." He made hand signs to animate such a thing. _

_He was already heading out the door. _

"_Oi!" Shisui flickered out of sight. _

_Sasuke stared at his scroll and plopped a rice ball into his mouth. _

_Freaks… _

XxX

"Damn it!"

Shisui cursed as his eyes scoured the populace of his Clan's compound, flittering about the dark haired kinsmen, his sights came up empty-handed as he found that Itachi had eluded him again.

"Ohayo Shisui." Chimed a woman.

Shisui turned around to see the Clan Matriarch standing right behind him, with a basket full of produce.

Mikoto smiled warmly at her nephew, he seemed a little frazzled.

"Have you seen Itachi?" Shisui asked abruptly.

"Hm… Iie, I haven't, I went to the market especially early this morning." She placed a finger on her chin as her kind dark eyes glanced up. "Is something the matter?"

Shisui sighed. "No…"

"Come inside for breakfast then, I don't want to bore Sasuke with my presence alone." Mikoto already had the younger Uchiha by the scruff of his neck, which she dragged all the way back to the Uchiha Manor…

Shisui gritted his teeth, knowing he was outdone _again_.

_Damn you Itachi…_

XxX

"Back so soon?"

Sasuke's taunt only made the already seething Shunshin no Shisui scowl even more irritated as he plopped himself down at the dining table.

The dining area was bathed in the crisp white light of the cool morning as the three Uchihas settled themselves.

"My, don't you look handsome today." Mikoto commented on Sasuke's white haori and black hakamas as she brushed a quick kiss on her son's cheek. "Have anything special planned?" She asked innocently as she set down the basket on the counter. Mikoto looked back at her son.

"I am going to pay a visit to the Hyuuga district."

"No training today?" Mikoto queried lightly, it was very much unlike Sasuke to skip a day.

"Naruto… is on a mission."

"And you aren't with him… why?" Shisui pried, the Kyuubi brat and his cousin always seemed attached by the hip when it came to missions.

"Kakashi, thought I should focus on getting prepared for the examinations." Sasuke still seemed on edge about being left out.

Shisui wasn't satisfied yet. "So… tell me again why you're not training?"

"I have other matters to attend to before the exam."

Shisui snorted. "I have other matters to attend to!" He mimicked in a nasally tone. "You sound like your ass of a brother…" He muttered. "Now be like him and go disappear." He waved off the unflinching Sasuke who shot him a deadpanned stare.

"How old are you?" Sasuke's monotone of a voice matched his expressionless face.

"Twenty-two." And Shisui stuck out his tongue.

"Act like it."

"Oi!" Before Shisui could launch himself over the table, a firm yet delicate hand placed itself solidly on his shoulder.

Mikoto smiled ingenuously as her grip tightened on her nephew's shoulder. "So Sasuke, tell me what other matters you have to attend to." Her shameless attempt to change the subject silenced both Uchiha.

"As I said before… I am going to the Hyuuga district."

"Unarmed?" Shisui eyed Sasuke who was now casually reading over his scroll.

Sasuke's deep set eyes glanced up, meeting Shisui with a strong gaze. "Of course."

Shisui let out a throaty laugh. "Man, that's arrogant… " Shisui grinned lopsidedly. "The Clan is going to have a field day over this."

"So who are you visiting?" Mikoto asked sincerely as she released her nephew from her grip and walked blithely over to kitchen area. "Is it your friend, Neji?" She asked kindly as she began to fiddle about with various domestic duties.

"Terrible name by the way." Shisui added.

Sasuke nodded curtly. "I am curious who will be recommending him for the ANBU examination."

"Well definitely no one from his Clan or anyone who might have a biased personal relationship with him."

"Well, when is the deadline due for recommendations?" Mikoto asked gently as she unloaded the various fruits and vegetables from her basket.

"A week from the exam." Shisui interjected as a rice ball materialized in his hand. "And the exam is this Monday and today is Thursday…" Shisui plopped a rice ball in his mouth and swallowed it whole practically.

"I do hope that Kagome-san has met the deadline then." Mikoto mused absently as she placed the empty basket away.

"Of course she didn't." Shisui interjected once more, making Sasuke glance up suddenly from his scroll.

"What?" Sasuke clipped.

"You're fine… Chibi is a Captain, there is no way they would turn down a Captain's recommendation." Shisui brushed off his concerns. "Besides… they moved the date of examination three weeks premature, so they'll be lenient."

"Kagome-san seems to have a soft spot for you Sasuke, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Mikoto turned around to face the younger Uchiha. "It's too bad that she didn't get along with your father." Mikoto leaned against the counter with arms crossed. "But then again, that's not saying much." She laughed lightly.

Shisui looked away, he was definitely not going to comment on _that_…

"Shisui?"

Said Uchiha looked at his aunt.

"Do you have any idea where Itachi went?"

"Nope." Shisui definitely was not going to comment on_ that_ either.

.

"Hm, well when you do see him, tell him that Yui is looking for him." Mikoto sighed. "That girl practically cornered me in the market this morning wondering where he was."

"He is avoiding her." Sasuke said bluntly.

"I don't blame him …" Shisui muttered as he stared blankly at the table.

Mikoto frowned. "Well, he is betrothed to the one of the few females to activate her Sharingan for a reason."

Ah, that's right… to keep the bloodline strong. Marrying within the Clan kept things pure and kept their kekkei genkai from dying out. That was the main concern for any shinobi Clan, though sometimes the rule was bent of course…

Shisui's eyes landed on Mikoto. The woman was a powerful kunoichi, along with the desired looks and smarts, she made the perfect matriarch who was not clan born and so, she had been singled out to do one thing-

Make an heir.

And so she did; giving the Clan a prodigy that outmatched any shinobi in the village and made _them_ ever more superior.

Mikoto had brought new blood into their ancient bloodline; giving it a new vigor that hadn't been there since their founding. Back when their bloodline had been strong and they competed in a deadly rivalry with the Senju.

But now, the two great Clans had fallen.

Senju, the Clan of a thousand skills, was now dispersed, the skills of their clansmen carrying over and forming smaller clans or dying out altogether.

But the Uchiha had remained as one cohesive unit that did not sway from the path of greatness. However, although strong, the Uchiha had seen better days and so the idea of bringing in new blood was brought up. This was debated upon heavily, splitting the Clan practically in half but with the Hyuuga threatening superiority it was eventually decided upon that desperate times called for desperate measures.

The matrimonial service of Fugaku Uchiha and Mikoto Kurama was a last ditch effort of the dying Kurama Clan and a desperate attempt of restoration by the Uchiha Clan.

The union was a success when Itachi was born and once more with Sasuke.

Now Itachi was bound to a clan born female who would most certainly bear them another strong heir.

Shisui exhaled at the nature of his clan. Mikoto was a strong kunoichi and he still didn't know why his Clan put up such a fuss when it was all inevitable that Fugaku was going to marry someone not-

"… of the Clan."

Shisui felt his heart stop and ice run through his veins as realization coursed through his blood.

"Shisui, are you alright?" Mikoto looked at her nephew with a concerned look.

Shisui ran a hand through his spiky locks, giving him the look of a frazzled cat. "Oba-chan?"

"What is it Shisui? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"If… _Yui_ wanted to denounce the betrothal with_ Itachi_, would_ she _be able too?"

"Of course." Mikoto chimed a bit cheerily. "Either party may denounce the betrothal, as long as another potential spouse of equal caliber is found for the heir."

"I thought so…" Shisui muttered as he stood and began to exit-

"Where are you going?" Mikoto queried lightly.

"Ah, don't worry about me Oba-chan! I just forgot something." Shisui responded swiftly with a lax wave and staying true to his appellation, Shunshin no Shisui was gone in a flash.

Mikoto stared at the empty space where her nephew used to be and sighed. Her kind dark eyes landing on her unperturbed son who simply perused over his scroll.

"Sasuke…" The Uchiha matriarch began apprehensively.

Sasuke looked up to his mother, she seemed anxious and soon he found his brows knitted together.

"…you don't think Yui would denounce your brother…would she?" Mikoto peered at her son with a hopeful gaze. "Itachi needs to produce an heir eventually...." She stressed.

An image of little dark haired children screaming, torturing small animals, mutilating dolls and chanting demonic phrases past through his mind.

"You have nothing to worry about Kaa-san."

XxX

"Damn it, Itachi…"

Shisui sped through Konoha like no other; his feet barely made contact with the buildings as he practically flew through the village.

He never understood Itachi sometimes.

The prodigy was skilled but even he questioned his cousin's motives. Itachi's motives were sometimes viewed as unstable…

Which honestly didn't surprise him.

What with the Clan sinking their fangs into him and bleeding him for all that he was worth. Manipulating, using, pushing and demanding Itachi to do more and more and yet…

He never snapped.

Never complained.

Never denied them.

Never once had Itachi shown any regard towards his own wellbeing.

He simply obeyed.

Obeyed his Clan, his village, his father…

_A life that was not his own. _

Those were the words Itachi had said to him.

His life was not his, but the Clan's and Itachi willingly obliged.

Shisui had asked him why, why give yourself so freely when you will get nothing in return.

Itachi simply smiled, he was young back then, and said that he was only one who was able too.

He was skilled, beyond skilled, Itachi was a natural phenomenon and for that, he was a coveted.

_To be coveted, makes one isolated and arrogant…_

Shisui found himself envying Itachi when they were young. Even though Shisui had graduated at the age of ten, which was still an impressive feat, Itachi had at seven and thus Shisui felt himself forced into Itachi's never ending shadow.

He remembered how their Clan praised Itachi when he mastered the Sharingan at eight and how they practically fell to his feet when he became ANBU Captain by thirteen. Shisui once again found himself shunning Itachi after awhile, envy had taken its course and he no longer desired the prodigy's camaraderie.

Itachi wasn't mad and that made the guilt overcome him. Shisui was the only one who didn't praise or fear him. Itachi and him were like brothers, in a twisted sense. He remembered how he voiced his jealously and resentment towards Itachi upon the night of his ANBU promotion and once again, Itachi simply accepted it without complaint.

Itachi didn't smile but simply nodded in acceptance, he knew of his cousin's feelings, he was far too perceptive not to.

It was then; Itachi looked to the crested moon and called his abilities a curse.

Shisui furrowed his brows at those words; strange way of viewing such a _gift._

It took a few years until Shisui understood fully.

A curse it was.

To have your own family use you, no friends to trust you and no one to accept you.

Shisui himself had to admit that Itachi's life was as hollow as his words of mercy.

But now Itachi was fixated on a girl.

Shisui stopped on a building, the cool morning mist dissipated in the sun's rays as Shisui perched himself on the concrete precipice. Dark eyes watched as Konoha was relieved of its ethereal blanket.

He exhaled a soft puff of air that materialized for a moment. Itachi's motives were concerning and most definitely inappropriate…

His thoughts stilled.

But was it wrong?

To rob Itachi of his only grasp of humanity and normalcy.

Shisui felt guilt settle in his chest, pulling on his heart and making it ache.

_A curse… _

Shisui brought a calloused hand to his features and massaged his tense jaw.

Itachi didn't base his relationship with the girl on attraction or any other inappropriate origins.

The girl was burdened with something someone like him could only guess at.

She was cursed just as his cousin was.

She was the only one to know what it felt like, to be used in such ways, warped at such a young age and manipulated to do things one, so young, should not do.

In those shadowed irises of blue.

Itachi saw himself.

Itachi also saw how she was breaking…

Unlike him, the girl was fragile as her mentality was slowly fading away just as her eyes were graying over.

She was breaking.

Shisui had read the reports, he knew of instabilities…. Her reluctance to kill…

Maybe that was it. That was what Itachi was so fixated upon.

She suffered the same fate, a fate burdened and limitless but there was something in her. Something that refused to die, something that steadied her blade and made her eyes hold a diming light.

Shisui smiled softly.

Innocence…

She held onto it even when it was stripped bare and butchered. For that was why Itachi was so fascinated with her.

He wanted to preserve it.

She held an innocence even when bloodshed surrounded her and coated her hands.

Itachi saw it. He knew her burden and she knew his. He was a tainted enigma that had lost his very bearings on humanity while she, who was doomed to the same fate, clung onto the last shreds of it and refused to let it die.

Kagome wouldn't let go of it, even if she wanted to, she couldn't.

She clung onto the last vestiges of purity with such passion that Itachi saw himself grasping out to regain his.

Itachi saw himself in her.

In her, in those glistening yet shadowed eyes, he saw a chance at humanity, redemption, acceptance, a chance to hope…

Shisui smiled a cocky grin upwards to the morning sky, feeling as if there was nothing to worry about any longer.

That was it, she was his humanity…

"…And you're never going to let that go, are you?"

XxX

Jade eyes narrowed.

"Oh come on…" Sakura groaned at the girl in the mirror, said girl had a mop of pink hair that stuck up at all ends and refused to be tamed. Her dainty lashes framed cold hard emeralds that glared at the rosette.

The girl in the mirror was really pissing her off.

She brought a slender hand that could obliterate a mountain to the unflinching mass of dainty pink locks and gently smoothed out the frizzy hair-

Only to have the other side pop up with a poof.

"I'm going to go bald if you don't obey." She clipped at her reflection.

"Bad hair day?"

Sakura jumped.

"Yo." Shisui threw up a wave as he leaned against the doorway of Sakura's bathroom; said medic-nin had been threatening herself with a blow dryer in hand and was adorned only in a bright pink towel that matched her unruly hair and soon her face...

Sakura spoke in a sickly sweet voice. "Shisui, I am going to pretend that I am not seeing you in my _bathroom_… while I am obviously _indecent,_ for that would mean that _you_ would be coughing up _your_ testicles in about three seconds…" Sakura smiled and batted her eyelashes.

The door was already shut.

"So…" Shisui began from behind the closed door. "… I just wanted to know where chibi lived."

Silence for a very long moment.

Shisui leaned against the closed door, the back of his spiky locks brushing against the painted wood and his shoulders squarely aligned so that his large frame leaned precariously on the already waning door.

"Why...?" Sakura trailed off, her voice slightly echoing.

"Because I want to know where Itachi is."

The door ripped open and Shisui stumbled back. "What?!" Sakura snapped at the now upside down Shisui. "Get off my ceiling!"

"Hehe… gomen, it's a habit." Shisui amended before dropping back to the floor. "Do you always have to wear so much pink?"

Sakura crossed her arms, brushing off the comment on her now pink robe and pink towel in hair. "Why would Itachi be at her apartment?" She clipped, tapping a pink bunny slippered foot.

"Oh, it's all fine now." Shisui said. "Itachi isn't going to do anything… weird."

"It's inappropriate."

"Huh?"

"Their age difference!" Sakura smacked a hand on her forehead. "What else would I be talking about?"

"Oh… wait… you thought…" Shisui scratched his chin. "Aw man… I don't mean that… get your mind out of the gutter pedo."

Sakura raised a brow. "Pedo?"

"I thought you meant the mind game shit."

"Wait what?"

"Itachi plays around with people's heads…" He twirled a finger near his temple before shrugging. "Everyone has a hobby." It just so happened, that Itachi's was a bit more sadistic than other's.

"It could've been both." Sakura quipped.

"Hey now… that's not very nice." Shisui defended lightly. "But like I said, it's all fine now."

"How is it fine?" Sakura glared and Shisui found himself cautiously stepping back. A girl dressed in pink had never looked so scary.

"He's not a pedophile, for one. He has that _department_…covered." He raised an index finger for tallying his reasons. "He's not playing mind games with chibi or she would be screaming while banging her head against a wall until her brain-"

"Okay!" Sakura cringed. She really was uncomfortable with visuals Shisui was giving her. "I get it. Itachi isn't doing… _that._" Sakura sighed. "So how is it…_ fine_?"

"I mean that Itachi won't harm her." His mind lingered on what he had just said. Knowing Itachi was a closet pacifist helped his reasoning but then again, he _was _capable of some _very _unorthodox methods…

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because…Itachi wants to help her." He practically had to spell it out for her. Shisui's face became aberrantly serious for a moment. "Listen… how many friends does Itachi have?"

Sakura began to count on her fingers, furrowed her brows and then held up a fisted palm with a cheeky grin.

Shisui held up one finger. "One." He corrected. "I am his only friend and I barely know him. Do you know why that is?"

Sakura shook her head with wide emerald eyes.

"Because, no one understands him."

Pulling the wrapped towel from around her head, Sakura freed the mop of pink as she raised a brow. "A misunderstood teenager… oh how the world weeps…" She muttered.

"I mean. No. One." He annunciated sincerely. "Seriously, have you ever seen anyone… more alone?"

"Yes."

Shisui was aghast. "Who?"

"Naruto." She said lowly, she was defensive of her teammates. "He has no family at all, he had no friends once, while the whole village despised him ... but the very ground on which Itachi walks on is practically worshipped." She gritted out, a little bit too calm.

"So why would whiskers want to be associated with chibi at all?"

Sakura tousled her damp locks with the towel before looking Shisui straight in the eye. "Because what Naruto sees, I see… I see a girl who was once carefree and happy. I see a little girl pressured into something a little girl shouldn't have to do. I see a little girl who has lost all faith in herself." Sakura's voice wavered. "Naruto sees it a bit differently though, he sees a little girl alone. He sees a little girl shunned by society. He sees a little girl ostracized for something she can't control… While I see a little girl, Naruto sees a little boy…"

"Uh…" Shisui looked up at the ceiling. "…you do realize chibi is a girl right?"

"Get out!" Sakura screeched and pointed to the door.

"I'm just messing with you!" Shisui threw up his hands in surrender. "I get it, you see yourself in her."

Sakura looked away with a knitted brow and crossed arms.

"So what do you think Itachi sees?"

_Silence._

"You all assume the worst of him but if you really looked at it, then you would understand that Itachi sees much more than any of you."

_Silence._

It hung in the air like stagnant dust, plastering itself on all surfaces and floating in the air in petrified stillness.

Sakura bit her lip, she wasn't one to sympathize with the tormentor of her past infatuation and present valued comrade nor was she about to hand over anything in willing naïveté. However, she was human and she would back off on whatever relationship Itachi had with Kagome and observe warily from the sidelines and be ready to disembowel, dismember, disintegrate, obliterate and of course castrate Itachi, if he was to do _anything_.

Sakura sighed stubbornly before mumbling. "…fine."

Shisui perked up.

"I'll leave it alone." Sakura acquitted. "But just know this…"

"And… what's that?" Shisui didn't like this.

"Don't fuck with Team 7."

"Hehe… literally?" Shisui leered at the now gaping bath robe.

Sakura lunged.

Shisui screamed.

XxX

Kagome let out a shaky breath.

"_Mew."_

Pools of blue grey drifted over to the curled up neko. Buyo was lounging in the cold morning light and staring up at his mistress with glossy golden slit eyes.

Kagome let a hand absently stroke the cat's soft fur and prod a reaching paw. She sat on the futon and let her mind blank as she played with the feline. Its whiskered muzzle withdrew to reveal tiny fangs that clamped playfully down onto her slender finger. Buyo continued to paw lightly on her hand as she did so.

"Ow." Kagome retracted her hand; it seemed her cat was fond of using her as a scratching post. "Be nice Buyo… I didn't sleep well last night."

Buyo outstretched a limb and brought Kagome's hand back for an apologetic lick. Its rough pink tongue licking affectionately and purring as it nudged its head against her palm.

"It's your fault." She accused the animal. "If I hadn't listened to you, I would have taken my medicine and be waking from a dreamless, drug induced sleep by now."

Buyo simply made himself comfortable on her lap, purring and nudging for affection.

"Stupid cat."

Buyo pulled on the oversized shirt that currently graced her form.

"What?" She snapped. She was seriously not going to explain to the _cat_ that she was only wearing a tank top and shorts last night and Itachi wouldn't stop staring her neck, so she just threw on the first shirt she saw…

"Buyo-" But Kagome was cut short when she felt a flicker of chakra.

_What the…_

She looked out the empty window, the white morning mist glistening in the cresting sun as her dusted blue eyes caught a glimpse of black. Kagome whipped around-

Only to find Itachi sitting beside her, his long fingers grasping his gaunt features that held his usual indifferent mask and his eyes were distant as they stared blankly at the wall. It looked like he'd been there for hours.

Kagome just stared, her eyes never fully fulfilled with the sight of him being so calm.

His shoulders were slumped and Kagome could see his shoulder blades jutting out beneath his dark shirt and slim limbs draping over the side of the futon. His bangs shielded his eyes in a faded black curtain but Kagome froze when she saw his lips descend downwards ever so slightly.

She outstretched an a hand, grasping onto the sleeve of his shirt and parted her lips to speak-

"You left." His voice cut her words off sharply.

Her grip tightened. "Shisui came in and so I thought-"

"Shisui, will not speak a word." He turned to her slowly and Kagome could see his eyes were closed.

Could he not even bare to look at her?

What did she do?

Her heart wrenched and her mind raced. Scanning through every word, every scenario in which she would have missed something.

Faded cerulean eyes widened.

Her own pleading words echoed softly in a numb whisper.

"_If you leave… then we're both alone." _

Her breath hitched as she felt something trickle down her heated cheeks.

You left…

She began to shake, she didn't mean to…

She just didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to herself.

_Shisui will not speak a word…_

She should have trusted him.

Just like she had said she would.

"Itachi…" She gasped as she knocked into him.

Her arms wrapped around his ribs and her head was placed squarely on his chest. His heart beating steadily as she gripped tightly onto him.

He was limp.

"…I didn't know." Her muffled whispered reached his ears and she heard him let out a long breath. "I trust you."

He was still limp in her tight embrace.

He felt so far away, like he was distancing himself from her.

Just like he did with everyone else.

Everyone else avoided him and those who didn't, used him. After all, why would a man without remorse need such a useless thing such as companionship?

It was best to just be left alone.

"Don't." She said firmly as she looked up.

Streaming blue eyes locked with half lidded black orbs.

"I'm not like _them, _Itachi. I won't give up on you." Her eyes hardened, becoming cold with resolve. "You are not a monster, no matter how much they want you to be."

His eyes locked onto her hers; blue outshined the grey as wet spiky lashes framed her anomalous eyes.

Itachi's indifferent façade never faltered and his eyes remained distant until she felt something prod her forehead.

"Tears solve nothing."

And just like that, he was back within her grasp.

She hadn't lost him yet.

Kagome closed her eyes with a relieved sigh before she rested her head back onto his chest and listened to the resonating beat.

She listened for awhile. The steady thrum was calm and strong.

It was beautiful to listen to.

"Does your heart ever beat fast?" She wondered aloud as she focused in on the strong beat.

She felt his chest rumble in a silent chuckle. "No one has ever dared to get close enough to find out." He replied amused, she was one to change the subject fast.

"Hn… most probably think you don't have a heart."

"Hm…" She knew he was smirking at her snide remark. "You're probably right." He replied richly.

She felt her eye lids droop and her head bob as she yawned. "…I'm tired."

With a rustle of sheets, Itachi leaned back and Kagome felt herself compress with soft linen and her head roll onto Itachi's lenient arm.

Kagome felt something cool rest on her neck, lightly grazing her pulse.

Itachi felt her pulse beat rapidly, fluttering lightly as he grazed her bruised flesh…

He sighed a heavy breath.

His wrist was caught with a smack as Kagome gripped it, her fingers retracting his hand away from her bruised neck.

"Stop fixating on it." She commanded succinctly. "There's nothing you can do."

She felt the hum of chakra suddenly rush and she sat up sharply-

But Itachi rolled her onto his chest as his other hand illuminated with a deep emerald glow.

She narrowed her eyes. Of course he knew the basics of medical ninjutsu, the bastard could do everything!

"Let go." She grounded out.

"Stay still." Itachi replied darkly, his voice was calm but strained.

Her hands were tingling as chakra was instinctively brimming her fingertips, she could rip out his heart at that moment with just one swipe and gouge to the chest cavity. "Itachi…" She struggled again; the only way to get out of his grip was to hurt him.

"Trust me…" His voice was taut, strewn across so tightly that it sounded as if it might snap

Her eyes widened slightly and her breath stuck in her throat until she resigned with a sigh.

His grasp loosened and Kagome stared at the ceiling as Itachi made his own futile attempt to heal her.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked numbly.

His hand hovered as healing chakra flowed into his bruised neck, he didn't reply.

"Does it bother you that much?" Her voice was distant as her eyes were glazed over.

His motionless arm twitched slightly but remained splayed across her stomach. "There is something you must understand…" Itachi began, his voice disturbingly candid. "…my mindset has been warped. I can not control certain thoughts that I have."

Everything stilled.

"W-What thoughts?" She choked out.

"I am a predator." She said nothing to him. "I could have killed you..."

An image of Itachi in the dark, coiling his hands around her neck flashed through her mind. "But you didn't." She reminded firmly.

"Aa… I have never _stopped_ though." His voice was dark and rich.

"Stopped…?" She felt something cold shoot between her shoulder blades.

_I am a predator…_

Predators have prey, when they start- they _never_ stop and always finish their _prey_ off.

That information had been ingrained into her mind long ago, before she could remember.

_I can not control certain thoughts that I have… _

"You have thoughts to kill me." She pointed out, her voice chillingly calm. "When you look at me, you see an imperfection; you see the prey that got away?" Her voice held a question, a hope that she was mistaken.

"Do you judge me now, Higurashi-san?" His voice dispassionately expectant. "Do I disgust you?"

She grasped his hand that was still illuminated with healing chakra and watched as the deep viridian glow dissipated.

"No… because you can't control your thoughts but you _can_ control actions." Her small hand barely wrapped around his slender wrist as both pairs of shadowed eyes looked strangely at the set of hands.

Itachi chuckled richly and Kagome felt him grasp her other hand, the one still clutching desperately to his shirt, as he slowly coerced her tight grip to loosen and rest in his calloused elongated palm.

"Then you are a fool." His voice was mocking and arrogant but still ever so…

_Relieved. _

XxX

The door whipped open before Sasuke could even knock.

"You're late." Kagome snapped, leaning against the doorframe with a towel draped around her shoulders and a charred piece of bread in her grasp. Kagome plopped the last bit of toast into her mouth before leveling the Uchiha with a stare.

Sasuke eyed the fully equipped ANBU and sighed.

Kagome tousled her short damp hair as she shot the Uchiha an accusing glance. "What?" She rejoined. "If I wore a yukata, I would have looked like a little girl." Her voice was abrupt and to the point.

Sasuke said nothing as Kagome turned her back to him and walked back into her apartment. He stared at the open door for a moment before entering her living space.

The Uchiha held his head high as his dark gaze drifted across Kagome's dwelling. Small kitchen, small eating area, small closet and one small futon perfectly aligned with the one open window.

"For an ANBU Captain…" Sasuke began; his voice deeply observant. "…you have quite a meager dwelling."

Kagome popped her head out of a lit room, which was the size of a closet, with a toothbrush in hand and foamy lips. "You do realize I have other expenses, right?"

He took a seat on her already made up futon and watched as Kagome stiffened as he smoothed out crease in the fabric. He raised a brow at her sudden edginess, it was like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and smirked when she scurried back into her bathroom. "Such as…" He drawled, loud enough for her to hear.

Sasuke heard running water and the sound of gurgling before she reemerged. "I have medical bills I still have to pay off, medication that I take, psychiatric treatment..." She continued to list the various debts and lack of assets as Sasuke began to appreciate his current housing situation. "…and being on probation cuts my given pay in half along with fees the village charges me for code and conduct violations- I only have a quarter of my pay."

Sasuke ran a hand furiously through his hair and sighed. "How do you afford utilities?"

"I don't." Kagome said simply. "They are cutting off my electric and gas by tomorrow."

Sasuke had heard of Naruto having these troubles, being sometimes unmindful of the 'minor' details in life and deemed a legal adult his past birthday, Naruto had been cut from the village welfare program and had been forced to pay his own bills-

Which ended up in countless cut offs, three evictions and one unforgettable overnight stay at the Uchiha Manor…

Sasuke shuddered at the memory.

Even Kakashi had a few financial problems since he was one to always be late on paying the bills, but in the end, conceded when a few threatening notices had been plastered onto his front door. Sakura on the other hand, who could stay with her mother, had chosen to move out and stay in a very meager apartment, due to her Chuunin income, in a very expensive neighborhood with a nice view.

While Sasuke lived with his parents still, which sometimes had the negatives outweigh the positives but it had the perk of an untouched Jounin salary in which he could spend at will…

Which… wasn't very much at all, now that he thought about it.

"Food is provided by Nara and rent is the only thing I can afford." Kagome blew a strand of ebony off her nose. "Now you know why so many ANBU are mentally unstable…" She commented cynically. "Deal with it or lose your livelihood."

"Aa…" Sasuke folded his sleeved arms, obscuring them from view as he watched the small and apparently penniless ANBU disappear.

It would be pointless to offer her money…

He knew that much about her. Though seemingly calm and distant, Kagome seemed to be quite the stubborn person.

Which led her to the point of near homelessness.

It was irritating to say the least, to have sacrificed so much for the safety of the village and only to be repaid with a stream of charges that left a shinobi of the highest rank struggling to keep a roof over their head.

"Have you been practicing your reps?" He heard her call from the bathroom, Kagome then strolled back into view with her hair up in a ridiculously short pony tail and senbon placed decoratively in her spunky raven tresses.

Sasuke nodded curtly.

"Where?" She demanded lightly. She was testing to see if he was lying.

"The Compound has its own training grounds."

"And your studying?" She questioned again. Sasuke had to memorize basic procedures and protocol beforehand, since all ANBU ciphers were taught onsite and were always in a state of flux.

"I finished this morning." He responded fluidly as he pulled a scroll from out of his sleeve and tossed it to Kagome.

She caught it steadily. "Brush up on anatomy and we'll move from there." She instructed as tossed the rolled parchment aside and turned to the door.

Sasuke followed in a languid gait.

Right before opening the door, Kagome turned around with a hard gaze and asked. "Tell me again why you want to go visit the Hyuuga?" She seemed annoyed by this.

"To gather information on a fellow contestant." He replied.

"Exactly how many rivals do you have?" She interrogated.

"Rivalry is beneath me." Sasuke smirked.

"You're a real ass, Uchiha." Kagome replied annoyed as she walked out the door.

"So I have been told." And so he followed.

XxX

"Where have you been?"

Itachi's eyes didn't leave the scroll as his face remained placid. A few ANBU surrounded them, masked and ready for orders. They were at a common rendezvous point just outside the village, a place where Itachi regularly gave orders to his platoon and other various squadrons.

Shisui sighed exasperatedly at the fact that Itachi was ignoring him.

"Should we depart for the border, Captain?" A masked ANBU questioned.

Itachi nodded stiffly as he pushed his rat mask back, only Captains had the authority to do so and not many did it often. "Leave three alive." He instructed casually before rolling the scroll and handing it to the ANBU operative.

"Are you not accompanying us, Captain?" Another spoke, his mask was much more distinguishable than others with a face of a sneering cat that was serrated in black bladed eddies. Shisui knew who he was; he could spot the pasty faced sociopath a mile away.

"Iie, Kurohyou." Itachi responded fluidly to the masked Sai. "I have other matters to attend to." The masked ANBU operatives shifted, unsure of what to say. "I will reconvene with all of you at the second eastern border checkpoint within three day's time." With that said, the small cluster of masked men nodded in unison and flickered out of sight.

Shisui pushed back his own blue streaked eagle mask. "Where the hell have you been?" He snapped.

Itachi turned to his cousin, his face expressionless…

That is until a small…

Shisui felt himself jump at the terrifying scene before him. "Why the fuck are you smiling?!"

His eyes were distant, half lidded even, with his lips slightly upturned in something Shisui hadn't seen since his cousin was but a kid playing hide and seek with his brat of a brother.

"Did you get laid or something?" Shisui questioned bluntly.

"Hn." Itachi's once smile turned into a smirk.

"Better?" Shisui pried, leaning with peering dark eyes. "What could possibly be better?" And then it hit him.

Itachi's eyes drifted past his cousin, his thoughts were else where.

"Your going to marry her, aren't you?" Shisui was never one to beat around the bush. He saw the content smile and calm gaze in his cousin's eyes, there was just no mistaking it-

Except when Itachi's face blanked, features slacking and eyes hardening, putting up that impenetrable wall that kept everyone at bay.

Shisui just laughed deeply, whether Itachi realized it or not, he gave a pretty strong reaction for such a light hearted remark. "Hm… you'll warm up to the idea eventually." Shisui encouraged. "When she gets older, you'll have no objections I bet." Shisui materialized next to Itachi's shoulder and elbowed him teasingly. "Oh come on… you really want to be stuck with prissy miss Yui?"

Itachi said nothing but just stared off into the distance, his dark gaze hovering over Konoha. Their village was eagerly drinking up every drop of sunlight and slowly shedding its morning blanket. Itachi's eyes blinked in a languid glance before slightly narrowing at the village.

Shisui looked in the same direction and stretched his senses; it was hard to discern from such a large mass of signatures and muted presences of civilians, but the distinct chakra signatures of Kagome and Sasuke were slowly edging their way closer and closer to-

"Hyuuga?" Shisui questioned aloud and then he remembered. "It seems chibi is heading over with your brother." Shisui ran a hand through his spiky hair slowly before smirking. "He seems to be pretty buddy buddy with your wife."

"Hn." And Itachi turned away from his village.

"Oi! I have some information that regards your wife." Shisui called at the departing back of his cousin, who was going Kami only knows where.

Itachi kept on walking and Shisui smirked.

"The Kyuubi brat is setting her up with some guy!" He yelled at the stubborn Uchiha heir.

Itachi stopped, his sandaled foot hovering over the warming earth. He was never one to pause and so with his back to Shisui, Itachi spoke in a disturbingly calm tenor. "Is that so?"

"Yeah…" He scratched the back of his neck. "Pinky told me and she's going shopping for her today for it… chibi doesn't know yet."

"And… what does my otouto think of this?" Itachi was motionless with his back to Shisui and rat mask leering at him as well.

"He doesn't quite know either…." Shisui laughed nervously. "That Kyuubi brat is one conniving little fox, trying to get one over us like that…" He then let out a triumphant chortle. "But! Due to my informational gathering skills… I have outwitted the trickster!" He was practically beaming. "That Konohataro kid doesn't stand a chance!"

"I see…" And Itachi kept on walking.

"Uh…Itachi!" Shisui called. "Itachi!" The Uchiha heir kept on his steady and unknown path. "What are you going to do about your wife?!" He coned his palms around his lips as he continued to call at the irritatingly nonplussed prodigy.

Itachi looked back, features slack and eyes dark, a face of a true predator who was about to strike. He then smirked, his lips hiding those _fangs_ as they twitched upward into a cold simper before saying. "…absolutely nothing."

Shisui rolled his eyes. "Just don't kill him okay, I mean he's just a kid that doesn't know you already called dibs…" He felt a faint shift in Itachi's chakra, his usually calm and smooth signature jolted. "…right?" He added nervously.

Itachi blinked and his face became chillingly placid once more as his angled dark eyes slid over to his cousin. "Shisui…"

_Oh shit…_

It was then his brows furrowed and his eyes seemed to shudder in disgust as he spoke slowly. "I do not have_… dibs_ on Higurashi-san."

"Right, so can I still call her your wife… because…." He shrugged. "...well, its inevitable. Just no one realizes it… yet." He shot an award winning lopsided grin towards his Captain.

Itachi sighed. "Remember the consequences of your actions, Shisui." He lectured lightly before dismissing him; obviously something about their conversation wore heavily on the younger Uchiha.

"Nani?" He exclaimed. "She won't get mad… will she?"

Itachi was already gone.

"Oi! You still owe me lunch!"

XxX

"_Ohayo Sasuke-kun!" _

A few more girls joined the ever increasing crowd that flanked said Uchiha and ANBU Captain, who kept their faces dispassionate and eyes straight.

"_Sasuke-kun!"_ Another called from behind. _"Sasuke-kuuun!"_

Kagome exhaled a calming breath as she ran a hand through her short locks and her grey blue eyes drifted over to her little _protégée_. "If you don't shut them up…" She began threateningly; this was starting to annoy her deeply.

"They never stop." He replied tersely, his shoulders tensed and his arms crossed strictly in his white haori sleeves. Obviously Sasuke was peeved that Kagome was witnessing _this_ aspect of his life.

It was embarrassing…

"_Sasuke-kun!" _

"That's it." Kagome stated simply as she whipped around to face the multitude of girls and as she analyzed the situation, she took in all shapes and colors… Did she just see purple hair? An image of Sakura popped into her mind with a sickly sweet smile and a sly wink, reminding her that the Kami made each creature…_unique._

Kagome wrinkled her nose in distaste as she slowly unsheathed her wakizashi…

Sasuke grabbed her wrist sturdily, stopping her for a moment and shooting her with a condemning stare. "Don't draw blood."

Kagome smirked. "Don't blink."

She disappeared in flicker of black and since he was without his Sharingan, he couldn't see a damn thing.

When the small mob of fan girls had gone from squealing and blushing to drooling and unconscious, Sasuke shook his head at the still smirking Kagome who had reappeared by his side.

"Paralysis jutsu?" He commented dryly, holding back a smirk.

She looked up at him, with an arrogant gleam in her shadowed eyes. "Hn… pressure points are much simpler for the… _less _experienced." And she dangled a hand in a flutter of fingers. "Don't worry Uchiha, you will learn them too."

"I'm not worried." He rejoined coldly.

"Hm, well you look tense." She noted right before crossing her sleeved arms and walking down the Konoha streets.

Sasuke casted a glance back at the pile of young women, right before following the one girl who was responsible for it.

They walked in silence for a few moments and Sasuke watched as Kagome eyed every civilian that seemed to have their eyes linger on them longer than necessary and then smirked when they hastily looked away after Kagome made it too awkward for them to stare anymore.

Then she took it a step further by twirling a senbon threateningly about her small willowy fingers if their eyes did not heed her silent warning. Sasuke eventually dismissed his aggravated… _comrade_, leaving her to her own devices and not caring if a few more unconscious bodies were found. So with this much in mind, Sasuke kept his vision locked forward. His peripheral however, told him everything he needed to know about his surroundings, which so far, were simply the vacant backstreets of Konoha with a few gawking civilians and some midlevel Shinobi-

Who weren't staring at him for once.

It seemed Kagome's attire brought a few persistent stares, as she was the age of Genin, but no Genin specialized in such a unique weapon as her wakizashi nor did any Chuunin or Jounin go without a vest unless they had been promoted to a higher rank beforehand. She was simply missing her armor and porcelain mask, plus the fact that she was short for her age didn't help matters.

She tousled her spunky bangs for a moment before commenting on Sasuke's own attire. "Where is your weapon?" She clipped with searching eyes.

"I don't need it at the moment."

"You are a fool." She snapped, noting how he visibly tensed even more. "If I was an enemy shinobi, I could kill you right where you stand."

"I don't need a weapon to defend myself."

"From me… you do." She threatened under her breath. "I am barely considered an S-rank and you think you stand a chance?" She scoffed callously.

"You're considered S-rank?" He questioned absently.

"Only due to my age… now don't change the subject, Uchiha." She chastised. "Now tell me, that my gift was not wasted on a spoiled child such as you."

He regarded with a hard stare briefly, musing how out of all the people to belittle him, it was her to call him a child. "You are quite the hypocrite." He chided dryly.

Kagome smacked his sleeved arm. "The day you are promoted to ANBU will be the day you will no longer be a child, Uchiha." She informed Sasuke, who had started to dwell on the morbidity of those words.

"Then what are you?"

She stilled, her silent footfalls visibly hesitated for but a moment over the path before she continued in a long silent walk.

Finally she let out a deflated bitter laugh. "A cursed child, I guess."

Sasuke inclined his head towards her, her eyes obscured by a dark curtain of black and her lips were forced upwards clinging to her uncaring façade.

She felt something heavy land on her shoulder, her eyes found Sasuke's hand on her slender frame. Her eyes lingered, seeing how much more muscled and calloused it was than Itachi's. His hand was masculine in its scars and breadth while Itachi's were slender with a smooth callousness, which showed precision and perfection. Sasuke strived so hard to be the predator, when he was something else entirely. "You are anything but cursed."

She shrugged off his attempt to comfort; it felt heavy on her shoulder. "One day Sasuke… you will understand how truly cursed… power is."

"Perspective is always a valued quality…" He retorted swiftly. "One you and I seem to both posses."

"Not when my perspective is the correct one." She shot him an accusing glare.

"Aa… the eternal argument." He stated dryly sardonic.

"There is no argument when I have the answer."

"You're arrogant as well as a hypocrite."

Kagome stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at the conceited Uchiha, who simply tossed her a half glance with gleaming dark eyes and a supercilious smirk.

It was then her annoyance waned.

Was he teasing her?

"Well… you're annoying and a bastard." She retorted snappishly and threw up her nose as she continued on with their journey.

"I have a father." He reminded with the same smirk plastered on his perfectly proportioned face that made her want break it.

"Lucky you." She sneered and continued to walk, her light gait ghosted over the dirt path and past a few citizens while Sasuke walked with a heavy walk that left people staring in their wake.

They just stuck out…

"We're almost there." Sasuke intoned a bit too softly for tastes.

"You seem to know the way pretty well, Uchiha." She commented coldly.

"Neji's cousin… is the heir to the Hyuuga Clan." He informed her deeply as he made a sudden turn, in which Kagome kept up with easily. "Itachi has been instructed many times to visit with her."

"Her?" It came out without thought.

Sasuke's eyes slid lazily over to her, dull black studying her for a moment. "Hai… Is that a problem?"

"Why would there be a problem?"

Sasuke gave a noncommittal shrug before looking forward once more, finding himself uncertain what to feel.

"You said your brother visits with her." Kagome commented lightly.

Sasuke nodded curtly with a scrutinizing gaze. "A few spars have taken place." He didn't need to tell her the result for obvious reasons. "However, Itachi refuses to let any more commence and has deemed her as unfit."

"How merciful." She sneered. "Have you watched any of these spars?"

He nodded again. "Itachi has never laid a hand on her and yet, he has won each and every time." His voice was hollow as he said the few sparse words he would ever appraise the skills of his brother. It was easy with her, for she wouldn't judge his suppressed adoration for his brother.

"And this Neji?"

"Is a branch member."

"I see." She replied solemnly, no matter how skilled he was, this Neji would never be acknowledged as the rightful heir of the Clan. It annoyed her somewhat, but her thoughts were cut short when Sasuke's baritone of a voice interrupted her musings.

"We're here."

XxX

"Matte… Neji." The teenage girl rasped, with hands on her knees, hunched back and gasping mouth. The kunoichi was exhausted. Her brown eyes glanced up at her teammate with a coy glance and apologetic smile as her brunette bangs hung freely while the rest of her hair was kept in strict buns. "Gomen ne Neji, but I need a break."

Said Hyuuga nodded and relaxed his poised battle stance. Long chestnut hair was loosely kept back with a black hitae-ate as Neji nodded to his kunoichi teammate and folded his arms sternly in his traditional white and black Hyuuga robes.

TenTen stood more erect now, composing herself after their spar. "You seem stressed." She observed bluntly, noting how their spar had been a bit more _intense_.

Neji's face relaxed slightly, as he blinked with opaque eyes. "The ANBU examinations are next week."

"They moved the date?" She asked incredulously, finally realizing the source of her teammate's stress was which had been unconsciously taken out on her. "Can they do that?"

Neji's face remained placid. "They can do as they please." He murmured slightly.

"What are you going to do about-" TenTen inquired but was cut short when a Hyuuga branch member came into the training ground.

"Neji-sama, Sasuke Uchiha and…" He seemed nervous as he paused to recollect something. "…and his companion are here to see you."

Neji's brow furrowed and TenTen crossed her arms with a 'humph' noting how her teammate was now in an even worse state due to the Uchiha.

"… send them in." He responded sharply as he straightened his posture and raised his features into a chauvinistic countenance.

The branch member bowed slightly, even though Neji was of the same family sect. The Hyuuga Prodigy was in the good graces of the Main House, which had earned him the right of respect among his fellow branch members.

Neji watched as the other Hyuuga left to retrieve the Uchiha and his _companion_ while musing how his fellow rival seemed to have impeccable timing when it came to seeing him in his most flustered state.

He was just itching for a fight and Sasuke Uchiha seemed to be good outlet.

He shot TenTen a brief glance, he was really taking his frustrations out on her, for problems that she had nothing to do with; but TenTen was strong and would never admit she was tired unless she was… utterly exhausted.

"Neji?" TenTen questioned in a hushed whisper and a nudging elbow. "Who's that?" She pointed to the pair of figures who had just entered the torii marking the training grounds.

Sure enough, the second in line to the Uchiha Clan came cresting up the steps and through the tall gateway. With arms crossed in an almost mimicking fashion and the most smug look on his face.

Neji's opalescent eyes landed on the much…much smaller form.

_It_ was short, with stark black hair that framed a pale face. As _it _approached, he could see the weapon strapped to _its_ back along with the various other weapons. _It_, apparently also had a few other weapons hidden, his Byakugan was not activated at the moment but his eyes were sharp nonetheless. _It_, also wore all black, a body suit if he was to guess, which was something only ANBU wore along with the sole-less skin tight combat boots, which _it_ was adorning as well.

As Neji came to the conclusion that _it_, was indeed ANBU and most likely a Captain, he also noticed another thing.

_It _was-

"A kid?" TenTen seemed taken back.

"She's ANBU." Neji's voice observed coolly. Apparently,_ it_ was also a girl; for no one could mistake such petite features on both face and body.

"Relax!" TenTen said under a hushed whisper and a slap to Neji's arm, who looked like he was about to snap under tension. TenTen sighed and shot a polite smile to Sasuke and his… friend. "I wonder who she is?" She whispered to herself, but knew that her teammate had easily overhead.

Neji had an idea.

"Ohayo Sasuke-san." TenTen greeted politely with a small wave, her eyes glancing downwards to the piqued girl who was twirling a senbon like a baton between her small fingers. "And who is this?" She asked sweetly, finding the little girl _cute_ in her own unique way.

Sasuke stopped in front of the tense Hyuuga and the friendly weapon mistress, who he couldn't remember the name of for life of him, and stood before them with all the arrogance and regality that was Uchiha. "Hyuuga." He nodded in greeting.

Neji kept his features still, carved of stone, they betrayed nothing as he responded. "Uchiha." His eyes landed on the girl for a moment, focusing in on the girl's chakra…

Kagome kept her eyes closed and brows raised. She wasn't exactly what one would consider a socialite, so when it came to unnecessary acquaintances, especially unnecessary rivalry… She'd rather not.

That is, until Sasuke elbowed her sharply, causing the senbon to almost gouge her finger and her eyes to snap open. "What?" She clipped.

TenTen mimicked the Uchiha as she nudged her teammate. "Neji!" She hissed lowly.

"Kagome." Sasuke spoke sharply, his deep voice resonating as his annoyance with her lack of cooperation suddenly increased.

"Neji Hyuuga." Said Jounin introduced himself, noting how he had gotten distracted when he felt the girl's chakra signature.

Kagome placed the senbon back in the small ponytail and stared uninterestedly at the Hyuuga. "Higurashi." He had just heard her own name.

"You're in ANBU." Neji stated nonchalantly, but his underlying tone hinted at his prying.

"Mhm." And then Kagome found her cuticles more interesting.

"How old are you?" Neji questioned once more, the girl was but a child.

She let her anomalous eyes of dusked blue flick over to the Hyuuga. "I don't talk to strangers."

"Twelve." Sasuke responded in his smooth baritone. "Kagome was promoted to ANBU when she was eleven."

"Impressive." Neji commended monotonously. "I am assuming she will be your recommendation then?" His insipid eyes snapped over to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. "Aa… " He drawled nonchalantly. "…who will be recommending you, Hyuuga?"

"A family acquaintance who has recently taken an interest in my skills."

"What's his name?" Kagome's questioned in a banal tone.

"He prefers anonymity."

"How convenient." She shot back with an eyeing glance.

"Is he a Captain?" Sasuke questioned.

"Why would a Captain risk-" Neji was cut off by Kagome's sharpened voice and sudden tugging on Sasuke's haori sleeve.

"Let's go." She practically hissed as she coerced Sasuke away from the Hyuuga and his teammate.

"I will see you at the examinations, Hyuuga." Sasuke said swiftly as he turned back to Kagome who was locked onto his arm like clawing cat. Her head whipped around for a chaste glare directed at none other than Neji.

"Fiery little thing isn't she?" TenTen mused with a smirk. "She'll be a strong woman one day."

"She's nothing but a little girl." Neji scoffed coldly as he glared daggers into the pipsqueak of ANBU's back.

"Hm… I think she's cute and Sasuke seems to care about her greatly; like a little sister." TenTen said whimsically.

He didn't catch that at all. The Uchiha seemed to be annoyed by her.

"Oh come on… since when did Sasuke pay attention to any girl… at all?"

"Haruno."

"That's because she used to steal his toothbrush!" TenTen exclaimed. "The girl was like psycho stalker for years… one can only ignore that for so long…"

"Hn…" He really didn't care for what Sakura Haruno did to Sasuke Uchiha back when they were Genin nor did he care for the young girl recommending him. In his opinion, she just got the luck of draw when it came to genetics and that had gone straight to her overinflated ego. "It is not… cute, TenTen." Neji intoned as he concluded that the girl was a _brat_.

"Oh Neji, you know you'll warm up to her…" TenTen flashed him a sly smile.

His pale eyes landed on his devious teammate. "And why is that?"

"Who else is going to recommend you?"

XxX

"Ah Kagome-chan, I 'm so glad you came back to visit."

Said kunoichi took a sip from her cup, sparingly drank the freshly brewed tea and held the warm porcelain in her small hands as she glanced up to Mikoto beneath her dark tendrils.

The Uchiha Matriarch took a seat across the dining table, her face pleased and somewhat relieved as she sighed contently. "How did your visit to the Hyuuga district go?"

Kagome shrugged. "The Hyuuga lied."

Mikoto placed a hand over her slighty gaping mouth. "Oh my… what did he lie about?"

"About his recommendation." She informed undauntedly as her pale cobalt irises flittered about the room. "How long does it take for Sasuke to change?" She questioned politely, but her voiced clipped at the end with annoyance.

"He never takes so long to get ready…" Mikoto stated thoughtfully. "Must be nervous."

"Hn." Kagome set down her cup on the table, she didn't want to be here too long, she wasn't welcome in the compound and she didn't want to face a certain Uchiha for a variety of reasons… Especially in front of his mother. "It is simply a recommendation forum; they won't be testing him yet…" She responded fluidly to Mikoto.

"Recommendation… they could still deny him a chance to participate in the exams?" Mikoto asked worriedly.

Kagome looked up, with a slightly confused countenance. "Didn't Itachi go through the same process?" She inwardly winced when she said his name in front of her so casually.

Mikoto smiled softly for a moment causing Kagome to inwardly dread until her face blanked and her smile faded into a stern line as her voice turned impassive. "Itachi… was chosen. He didn't have to partake in the examination process."

"…Neither did I." Kagome added under her breath. "They offered me the position of Jounin without examination either."

"Itachi was never a Jounin." Mikoto's voice was numb and she sighed as her slender hands gripped her teacup tightly. "It seems… you and my son, have a lot in common."

Kagome stiffened as she looked at Mikoto cautiously, her face was placed in a lingering smile while her eyes were vacant and shadowed with…. _guilt._

"Do you regret it?" Kagome asked quietly, her voice soft but her eyes were harsh with contempt.

"…everyday." And Mikoto's inky bluish black hair fell past as her head bowed and her eyes closed in silent resignation.

Kagome eyed the woman; Mikoto Uchiha was much more than a ignorant housewife.

Itachi didn't gain his intelligence from his father.

"That is why I left you two alone last night…"

Kagome's heart thudded to life as her ears rang.

"W-What…?" Kagome gasped. Images of Itachi's form leaning against his bedroom wall, her form on his bed, her head placed in his lap, his hands in hers, their eyes connecting and their words… "I-It's not what you think." She sputtered out in a sharp whisper, Itachi was going get punished for her… _dependency_ on him.

Mikoto held up a hand, her pale palm cast up for her to halt her thoughts and words. "I know." She smiled weakly. "I know much more than you think…" Mikoto kept her eyes closed and brow furrowed as if her words pained her. "That is why I will let it be…"

"Why?" Kagome's voice was strong. "Do you plan on using this against him in the future? Manipulating him further because of me?" She shot back, her cold voice was laced with venom and dripping with it.

Mikoto shook her head as she bit a trembling lip.

"Then what?" Kagome snapped. "What more can you take from him?"

Kagome stopped when a silent tear slid down the Matriarch's cheek.

Mikoto opened her eyes, they were dark just like Itachi's but Kagome noticed the deep dark cobalt hint to them that made her believe there was much more to Mikoto Uchiha than meets the eye. The older woman smiled a sad smile. "I've never seen Itachi look… so calm than when he was around you." She smiled further, a glint of teeth could be seen. "My son never lets his guard down, has been that way since he was toddler… he wouldn't even let me hold him for fear of physical contact exploited a weakness for a shinobi…" It sounded as if she was quoting him. "…except for Sasuke."

"And now Sasuke resents Itachi because of Fugaku." Kagome shot back; she was never one to hide her feelings. "Making Itachi resent Fugaku and even more ostracized than before." She gritted out with fingers clenched around the delicate porcelain cup mercilessly.

"I always thought Itachi preferred to isolate-"

The cup shattered.

Shards of porcelain clattered against the wooden table as hot tea splattered over Kagome's hands.

Kagome's hand was shaking.

"_No one_… chooses to be _isolated_." She let out a heavy breath as she tried to compose herself and her eyes were completely obscured by her black bangs.

Mikoto parted her lips but her words fell silent when a voice resonated coldly throughout the room.

"Okaa-san…"

Mikoto head shot up as she stood anxiously to the entrance of Sasuke. She quickly wiped her cheeks and placed a few strands of inky blue hair back behind her ears as she mustered up a decent smile to her youngest son. "Ah, Sasuke you look nice." She complimented weakly, taking note of his clan emblazoned haori, combat pants, shinobi sandals and chokutō strapped to his back.

"Kagome." His voice rung strong as he called the ANBU's name.

She stood numbly, the sound of porcelain clattering against the wood reached Sasuke's ears as she let the dripping limb hang limply by her side. Kagome's eyes were obscured by a thick black curtain of bangs that shadowed her cheeks.

"…let's go." And Kagome turned slowly with head drooping and limbs hanging as she walked past Mikoto and out of the room.

Mikoto looked at her son. "Sasuke I-"

"Don't." He didn't want to hear it from his mother's mouth, he didn't know what Kagome had done to invoke another onslaught by his family and frankly, he really didn't fucking care either.

XxX

"What did she say to you?" Sasuke clipped tersely as he walked alongside the silent prodigy who hadn't made a peep since they had left his Clan's compound.

He honestly, didn't think his mother would have done anything to Kagome, she seemed fond of the girl and so he had left them alone for a mere ten minutes and now Kagome was in a near catatonic state. He clenched his jaw.

"Nothing." Her voice was hoarse and she was still not looking at him. "Your mother did _nothing_…"

"You're being stubborn."

"She did nothing… and she still does _nothing_." She whispered vehemently, eyes still shadowed and head bowed in solemn thought. "…you still don't get it do you?"

Sasuke stood, stilled in the dusty streets of Konoha with Kagome's form tensed into a taut knot. He grabbed her shoulder. "What am I not getting?" He demanded, she was not upset with just his mother but with him also.

She backed away from his grip, but he held her still and then proceeded to pull her roughly forward. "What is it with you Uchiha and grabbing me?" She snapped bitterly and broke his grip easily as Sasuke felt his wrist bend painfully as she held the joint at a precarious angle.

Sasuke twisted out of her grasp easily enough, but not without straining the ligament painfully. "You're hiding something." Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What am I not getting?" He demanded again, his voice so cold it made her wince.

What was with her?

She was so upset over something that had transpired between his mother and her, but he had a feeling had to with others as well, him included.

He reached out a bound hand, strong fingers outstretching.

"…why… do you hate your brother?" She asked weakly.

His hand stilled in midair, above her dark cowl that hid her face.

"…you just don't get it…" Her voice wavered. "You have no idea what you are envying…" A small hand shot out-

Her fingers gripped tightly around the haori's fabric. She pulled on it sharply, making it gape and reveal his bound chest as well.

"…Why do you want to join ANBU? To appease your parents, your clan, your brother?" She asked heatedly. "What happens if you can't do it? What happens when you're dead and all you leave your brother with is your envy and bitterness? What then?" She grabbed the fabric mercilessly. "Your mother did nothing for him and now she's doing nothing to for you, she's letting you follow in your brother's footsteps…"

"My goals-"

"Your goals are suicide, Sasuke!" She shouted. Kagome shook her head and tightened her already merciless grip. "You're not Itachi, no matter how much your Clan wants you to be."

"Then how…how do I gain acknowledgement from my _own_ family?" He asked numbly.

"You don't need it… your own mother didn't stand up for Itachi and she isn't going to do it for you either… she does nothing for either of you!"

Sasuke said nothing.

"You shouldn't live for other's expectations, Sasuke… you'll only let yourself down in the end." Her voice was somber as her body slacked and she leaned forward slightly.

"Then what should I do?"

"… do it for yourself." She whispered and her gripped loosened as her hand lay on his chest and her forehead collided with it as well.

"You're exhausted."

Sasuke's voice rang through her ears and all she could do was nod into the fabric of his haori as her legs started to give-

"Come on."

She felt the ground fall out beneath her as her body was hoisted up onto his back.

Sasuke felt her place a wan cheek against his back and lace her willowy arms around his neck.

"I'll recommend you… tomorrow." She obviously wasn't up to much else today. "I just didn't… sleep well last night."

Sasuke said nothing.

"…you don't hate your brother, do you?" She asked in a delirious mumble, but the hope was still present and ever so delicate.

And he could break it.

Such a temptation it was, to break something so fragile-

"…no… I don't."

And what more, to mend it.

* * *

_**Intermission!**_

_Congratulations for getting this far!_

_Now go take a break! Drink some water or something!_

Naruto: …and ignore the fact that I'm not in this chapter…

-

-

…_hehe… onwards!_

* * *

Her heavy breaths were laden with a hollow rhythm. Her small pink lips were agape with a soft pant and her cheeks were drawn from exhaustion.

Sasuke sat at the edge of her bed with a stern expression on his face. He pulled up the linen covers over her motionless form.

There was a furious knock at the door, a small and frantic rap against the wood.

Sasuke sighed and walked languidly to Kagome's apartment door and opened it with a blank face and irritated eyes.

"I came as soon as I heard." Exclaimed one Sakura Haruno who looked anxious but ready to take on a bear if need be.

Sasuke stepped aside to let his teammate enter the apartment, who entered without wasting any time thus leaving Sasuke to follow.

"What happened?" Sakura asked in a more restrained tone as she approached the small futon.

"We were about to head to Central Unit to enlist myself for the ANBU examination." Sasuke informed Sakura, who was hovering over Kagome with an expression that conveyed her worry as her hands prodded the girl in a very clinical fashion.

"And?" Sakura's jade eyes studied Kagome's unconscious body as she interrogated her teammate.

"She became extremely weak and fatigued."

"Has she woken since?"

Sasuke leaned against the wall with arms crossed and shook his head when Sakura turned to him for an answer.

"She must have had a nightmare last night." Sakura turned back to Kagome with a finger placed on her lower lip in thought. "In her medical records, it has been recorded for her to become catatonic after an episode so I would assume that extreme fatigue would be only natural after having one…"

"She was fine this morning." Sasuke interjected fluidly.

"She might be on a soldier pill." Sakura supplemented analytically as she placed a palm over her forehead. "Her body mass is small and she has a high metabolism, which leads for the supplement to run out much quicker but be all the more potent for her…"

"She was fine this morning." Sasuke repeated rigidly.

"That is because her body was already at the end of its fuse… she should have been unconscious for at least a day or two according to her medical history, the soldier pill just barely kept her standing." Sakura finished somberly as her hands began to glow with a light emerald. "Her chakra channels are extremely worn out… her blood pressure is high and her muscle tissue is damaged."

All of the rudimentary signs of chakra depletion, except her chakra had been hardly depleted at all.

"What's wrong with her hand?" Sakura asked suddenly as her fingers grasped the girl's smaller palm and splayed it flat to reveal a jagged gash that was caked with a deep carmine. Sakura's finger's prodded the wound until a glint of white caught her eye. Sakura grasped the broken white shard and plucked it out swiftly. A thin stream of blood slid down her wrist as Sakura narrowed her eyes at the offending piece of porcelain. "You didn't see this?" She demanded intensely as she held up the bloodied shard for Sasuke to see.

He cautiously stepped forward as his fingers clutched the small shard. His eyes studying the white slice with a silent somberness, as sanguine rivulets slipped off.

Sakura already had the wound healed by the time she spoke again. "It was only a superficial wound Sasuke, but I don't like the fact that she left it in there…"

"It won't happen again." He assured dispassionately as he tucked the shard away.

"Sasuke… I don't want to have to say this… but, she may self mutilate herself…" Sakura fidgeted anxiously as she chose the most passive way to voice her concerns. "Her history is… extremely concerning Sasuke." Her implications rang clear. "I think we should report this."

"Then what happens… Sakura?" His voice was much too calm as he looked down on her with a bored gaze.

"…then what do you want to do?" Sakura asked timidly, knowing her shishou was fully aware of Kagome's situation already.

Something shifted in Sasuke's demeanor, it was not visible or tangible by any means but his character changed… it reminded her of when he took over in battle, his attitude changed and it was then that she never felt more unsettled by her teammate.

It was moments like these that he spoke a simple phrase that guaranteed victory and implicated that no questions were to be asked on how it was to be achieved.

"_I'll take care of it." _

She felt her head bob as she nodded in compliance, she may have been perturbed by Sasuke's unspoken methods but if anything, she trusted him and she had a sneaking suspicion that he had a soft spot for the little prodigy.

Sakura smiled at that thought, the girl had a knack of obtaining the favor of the most unlikely of people. "Let her rest for today and tonight as well. Also be sure something stimulates her metabolism." Sakura gave her diagnosis promptly as she smoothed out the sheets of Kagome's bed. "She just needs rest, Sasuke." She assured him warmly. "Her body just needs to recover from the shock."

"Can you heal her?"

Sakura's smile wavered at his cold and demanding tone, Sakura nodded slightly. "Hai… but I don't want to heal her body… cell regeneration is harsh on the tissue and I don't want to subject her body to any more than what is mandatory… don't worry Sasuke, I'm sure she'll be able to recommend you in time."

"I don't care about that."

"…oh." She felt her stomach twist at his tone, she almost winced it was so sharp. "Well, I'll just leave this here then..." She trailed off as she placed the innocent shopping bag on the nightstand.

"Sakura..."

"Hmm?" She looked up to her teammate with lambent pools of jade.

Sasuke's dark obsidian eyes slid over to the bag on the nightstand, it had the most ridiculous color and bright tissue paper flaring out. Sasuke had an uneasy feeling settle in his chest.

"This?" She held up the container of choice. "It's Kagome's clothes, I wanted to take her shopping later today… but I just couldn't resist when I saw this." The rustle of paper could be heard as the tissue paper went flying and Sakura's torso disappeared into the bag. "Isn't it cute?" She proclaimed triumphantly as she held up the delicate white thing.

"Throw it out."

Sakura pouted, "Hmph," And tossed the dress back into its carrier with a snubbed nose. "You're one to talk… just look at your clothes…always the same." She accused as she leveled him with a look that could halt an army.

Sasuke retorted with a deadpanned stare.

"Well I'm off to the hospital." Sakura chimed as she walked over to door. "You should go see Kakashi-sensei." She suggested lightly as her eyes locked onto Sasuke's hovering form.

"Why?" He asked hollowly, his eyes transfixed on the small unconscious creature.

"Something about Raikiru."

"Raikiri." He corrected absently and he sat at the edge of the futon with a bound hand resting over the lump in the dark sheets.

"Aa, that one." Sakura couldn't see his face, for his bangs were blocking her view but she saw the tension in his neck and shoulders. "She'll be fine, Sasuke-kun." She assured once again before heading out the door.

Sasuke eyes lay heavily on the sleeping girl for a moment and then he uncurled his strong fingers to reveal the shard of porcelain. Its glossy white surface was still slightly pink as Sasuke prodded it lightly, his fingertip grazing the edge until he recoiled suddenly. A thick fat drop started to form on the slice that had just been afflicted by the seemingly harmless sliver.

Sasuke smirked, his dark eyes drifting past his palm and to the seemingly harmless girl-

Reminding himself, that she was still sharp and able to make one bleed.

No matter how broken or shattered she may be.

XxX

It crackled and danced.

The concentrated Lightning chakra licked at his fingertips and sparked with a steely blue. Dancing about his palm wildly, Sasuke kept his face cool and calm as he watched the seemingly wild chakra flicker and spark.

Then, he dispelled it with as much ease and proficiency as he had conjured it with.

Staring at his now vacant palm, Sasuke knitted his brows.

He was disappointed.

Raikiri had turned out to be much too easy to master.

His cool dark eyes slid over the placid waters of the lake, the day was spent he mused.

The sky plastered with a fiery array of colors and streaked with sooty charcoal clouds seemed nostalgic to him. This was how it always was, he mused wryly, his country always peaceful even when in the very heart pandemonium. He sighed. Complacency would be the end of them all.

His sandaled feet moved silently as he stepped onto the water's surface, off the wooden dock and onto the glistening mere. The soft sound of undulating waves lapping against the lake's shore reached Sasuke's ears, as well as the hoarse cry of crows off in the distance.

He moved without so much as a ripple, as his feet glided over the placid waters.

Sasuke simply stood there.

Letting the deep carmine glow of the sun envelop his pale skin, Sasuke let his eyes drink in the fading image.

After all, beauty was fleeting.

He let his eyes drink in the descending sun and darkening sky with appreciation.

He had never missed a sunset.

"Deep in thought?"

His whole body tensed suddenly, it was unnerving on how easily Itachi was able to slip through his guard and past his senses.

Sasuke turned his head, inclining it in his brother's direction with an arching neck and a piercing glare that betrayed his expressionless front.

Itachi looked down at his younger sibling with a calm stare, his lithe body leaning against one of the wooden posts of the dock, with arms crossed and rat mask pushed back.

"Where is Naruto-kun?"

Sasuke hated his brother's voice, it was far too calm. "Off on a mission." He replied tersely. While Naruto assisted Team 8, Sakura ran her hospital rounds, and he had been with Kagome… Kakashi had finally decided that it was time for his most prestigious student to learn Raikiri.

Sasuke sighed inwardly.

Timing was never one of his sensei's strong points.

"That explains it then…" Itachi's mused absently as he closed his eyes and his face melted into a serene expression.

"Explains what?" He responded deeply, and then he mentally cursed himself. His brother was one of the few people who could get a rise out of him so quickly.

Itachi's eyes opened slightly, lambent slits of obsidian watched him ever so cautiously. "Higurashi-san… was with you this morning." He brought a slender yet deadly hand to his cheek, resting it on an open palm and speaking once more in the same quiet and smooth tenor that could perturb even the most hardened shinobi. "She usually spends her mornings with Naruto-kun."

"What are you getting at Itachi…" His face fell into a bored expression and an even more banal tone. " …you are trying to get a rise out of me for a reason." His voice was dull, uninterested but it held the undertones of amusement.

"Hm, otouto… I am merely trying to gauge your relationship with her."

And it seemed Itachi wasn't going to dodge around the issue either. "And this concerns you… how?" He asked nonchalantly.

"You form attachments much too easily, such a quality will only cause you immense pain and suffering later on."

"What you're saying is… to distance myself… so that in the case that she dies, I will not be as affected." It was the shinobi way, for this concept had been preached to him the moment he had joined Team 7.

"Hm… not quite…" Itachi's voice sung smoothly through the air. "Higurashi-san…" His eyes flicked over the sunset, its dying light and blood red hues brought a deep sense of foreboding. "… is an anomaly, her thought process is different from yours… and mine." The last part seemed hard for him to voice, as if Itachi was revealing a weakness for him to exploit.

Itachi brought a hand to his mask; his fingers curled and lingered on the vermillion blades that were embedded in the porcelain. "ANBU… has warped us…" His voice was quiet, as if in some dark reflection. Itachi held it heavily in his hand, his eyes sliding over the mask.

Silence.

Itachi didn't speak and Sasuke found that he couldn't.

His brother's eyes…

Dark, dull and distant.

Memories flashed in those dark abysmal depths.

Sasuke could see it, feel it, almost taste it…

_He saw people smiling, children laughing and a boy standing off in a crowd. _

_Dark eyes, dark hair, dark clothes… _

_The boy nods at another set of people as they congratulate him. _

"_ANBU at thirteen… what an achievement… you must be so proud." The woman says to a man standing behind the boy. _

_A strong hand slaps on the boy's thin shoulder, the boy looks delicate. "I am."_

"_You must be looking forward to such an amazing opportunity." _

_The boy nods. "I am." _

_Perfectly trained, perfectly obedient, perfectly inhumane…_

_Perfection… perfection…_

_People gawk and stare… he feels their fear… _

_Perfection..._

_I am a monster. _

_-_

_The scene blurs and soon the boy is standing outside. _

_The man hands him something wrapped in cloth. _

_The boy takes it, unravels the cloth and lets it fall to the earth. _

_The slab of porcelain is carved, marked and glaring back up at the boy. _

"_This mask Itachi… is meant for much more than just to disguise your identity… When you wear it, you are no longer Itachi, you have no thoughts other than your mission, you have no desires but your mission's… you __**are **__your mission. Your identity is based in this mask…and this mask is no one." _

_The boy places it on his face. _

_I am no one. _

_-_

_The boy now stands over body, his face masked and blank, but his limbs tremble. _

_He scrapes at the mask, bringing it into his hands… he clenches the façade and it starts to crack as droplets fall onto its white face. _

"_I don't want any of it…" His lips betray him. _

_And then it shatters._

_Broken._

_I am…_

_-_

"_Here." _

_The mask is thrust in front of him; the boy looks up at his father. _

_His face is stern as the boy grasps mask. _

_Red marks it. _

_Bloodstained, it covers the cracks. _

"_Now, no one has to know it's broken." _

_His father walks away. _

_He stares at the seemingly flawless mask. _

_I am perfect. _

_-_

_Another body falls. _

_Scarlet flecks his porcelain cheeks. _

_He moves and hears no screams. _

_They fall._

_One over the other, on top of his blade. _

_He is not responsible. _

_He has no face. _

_He is not here. _

_I am innocent. _

_-_

_Rain is falling. _

_The boy walks down empty streets. _

_Grey and black, are all the colors he sees. _

_Red is him. _

_Everyone else is unimportant. _

_People are shades of grey. _

_He hears footsteps._

_Something hits him hard in the chest. _

_He looks down. _

_And then he finds another color. _

_Blue…_

_-_

And then it stops, right before he delves into the memories of Kagome.

"This mask…" Itachi's voice finally broke the silence and the illusion. "Is meant to disassociate you from your actions, Sasuke… It is meant to strip you of your humanity."

Sasuke exhaled a shaky breath, he had never experienced his brother's genjutsu and this illusion was without the Sharingan… It was had been slow, hardly noticeable at first but then slowly but surely it had strengthened into something fast. It had only been a few short and intense moments but it had wracked with his chakra network severely.

Sasuke's body slumped with back arching, inky bangs hanging and hands on his knees.

"You said… she thinks differently." Sasuke managed to get out; the genjutsu had been unbelievably strong.

"Yes…"

"How?" He stood up, his body felt heavy but Sasuke composed himself.

Itachi's eyes lay heavily on the mask, the lids of his eyes closing slightly in thought. "One either chooses to disassociate themselves or not to, Sasuke… lose your humanity or be consumed by guilt… those are our options." His voice was harsh.

"And what has she chosen?"

"Both."

Sasuke said nothing as his eyes looked down, away from his brother.

"Guilt for taking another's life, shame that she feels it…envy for those who don't…" He recited it as if it was some form of perverse poetry. "… she clings onto humanity when it comes to others… but when it comes to herself… she loathes…"

"You mean she's self conflicted…"

"Intentionally." Itachi added swiftly. "Masochistic in a sense." He finished smoothly, his tone spoke analytical detachment while his eyes were dulled with weary.

"Could it be possible… that she is physically….?" Sasuke's eyes were vacant as he focused on the glistening backs of waves.

"She is already."

Sasuke's head snapped up. "How do you know that?"

Itachi closed his eyes for a long moment. "Her classified files state many things… however, she does not mutilate herself..."

"I did not say-"

"You insinuated." Itachi's eyes were sharp and dark, matching his voice. "Do not make such assumptions on something you know nothing about, otouto." Itachi's voice was degrading and harsh, the once cool and composed tenor had now become cold and demeaning.

"Then what do you know?" He refused to be lured into his usual contempt for his brother and so he kept his appearance unruffled despite the fact that he might be seething.

"… it doesn't concern you."

Being the outwardly self-possessed person Sasuke was, he brushed that last comment off. "Whether she does or doesn't… it still doesn't change the fact that she is..." He paused, until he forced the words. "…suicidal, which… does inflict physical harm to her body-" His deep voice was leveled by Itachi's sharp interjection.

"Don't…" He warned with dark eyes gleaming threateningly. "…lecture me Sasuke."

"It is self harm." Sasuke shot back, refusing to relent.

"No… it is not." Itachi's voice took a deathly serene tone. "Self mutilation…" He seemed disgusted by the term. "…has no suicidal intent… she _has_ the intent…"

"Then why is she still alive?" Those words alone had stopped both of them.

It was true, Sakura had divulged a few things based upon her medical records and the fact was that Kagome Higurashi should be dead according to medical standards but her body had somehow… healed itself. Bloodline limit was highly possible, but with no family history to go on it was difficult to find out such things.

"…that is… what we are trying to decipher, otouto."

"We?"

"Higurashi-san wishes to pursue her past…" By his tone, it seemed that his quest for her memories was well under way.

"And you have made progress?" It was more of statement than a question.

"Hai… and it seems that her past is interwoven with ours as well, otouto."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's torso twisted in his brother's direction with his feet gliding over the rippling water's surface and the bloodstained sky being his background as he looked up to his brother. The curiosity in his eyes was evident.

Itachi said nothing for a long while, his limbs shifting in a refined manner as his eyes slid aphetically from his brother over to the glistening waters and then finally onto the dimming horizon. "Have you heard of man, by the name of Madara?"

"…no."

"Hm… never mind then." He resigned forebodingly with closing eyes.

"Then, that is it…?"

"What is… otouto?" Itachi's seemed weary of his younger sibling now.

"You wish to know her past, to know how she is associated with this… Madara?"

Itachi's lips twitched upward into a soft simper. "Yes… that is… _part_ of it." And with that said, Itachi dismissed his brother, turning his back to him and walking silently over the wooden dock.

"Itachi…"

Silent footfalls stilled.

"Tell me why you want me to distance myself from her?"

Itachi didn't look back, the dark cloth of his shirt took on a reddened glow as did the rat mask that leered back at Sasuke with a vicious grin.

"Where did you get that sword…?" Itachi asked distantly.

Sasuke's bound hand unconsciously brushes his fingertips along the sheath of his newly gifted weapon.

"_It's a chokutō."_

_She._

"_Cost me a lot to get one like this."_

_Never asked._

"_I only have a quarter of my pay." _

_For anything._

"_They are cutting off my electric and gas by tomorrow." _

_In return._

"…_rent is the only thing I can afford."_

Sasuke sighed, his wrapped hand running through his spiky hair and through his straight bangs.

"Selfless creature isn't she?"

Sasuke could only see half of his brother's face, with a thin stream of gold outlining his half-lidded and distant face and pale skin taking on a healthy shade instead of his usual wan pallor. Sasuke felt as if he was the one who is the cold and callous.

"You have no appreciation for what people sacrifice for you, otouto…" Itachi's voice was hoarse.

Sasuke tensed with his feet spread apart and his arms thrown up in a rigid stance.

"Do you know of the penalties that follow recommendations in regards to ANBU?"

"Penalties?"

"Hai…" Itachi's face turned, his slender neck caressed by his limp plait. "One must be able to place full faith into their candidate." He quoted fluidly.

"And if I fail the exam…?"

"Resignation."

"I was not aware." Sasuke's voice was hollow and after a moment of silent thought he spoke again. "Resignation is something… I would prefer for her…" He admitted absently.

"Hm, then after that…what happens to her?" Itachi interrogated sharply. "No one forces Higurashi-san to be in ANBU, Sasuke… It is simply an escape, no matter how unpleasant it may seem. It gives _us_ a purpose… for shinobi of our caliber need a reason to possess such coveted abilities, because if we don't… we lose our purpose and that is worse than death for such expendable tools like us." Itachi smirked wryly, it was a disturbing sight to see his brother look so _raw._ "We find a reason even when there is no reason…"

Reason? A reason to live?

Sasuke didn't want to linger on that thought. It was far too exhausting to think about. Especially when he was about to tread the very same path.

"You need to start looking beyond the immediate future, Sasuke." Itachi instructed softly, his voice was calm now but still ever so mysterious. "…as well as start appreciating what you already have."

"What is it then?" Sasuke demanded harshly. "What do you want me to do? Distance myself from her? Show my appreciation?"

Itachi just smiled lightly, his eyes closing as his last words were spoken.

"Just…" His voice trailed, wavered even as his eyes opened slightly into glistening onyx slits. " …don't give her false hope."

Sasuke watched his brother walk away from him again. "I won't abandon her…"

He watched as the rat mask sneered back at him with curling vermillion lips-

And then he saw it.

It was faint, almost undetectable as it crept along the seemingly unblemished porcelain and yet, it still didn't change the fact that it was still...

"That is all I ask…" It was a dark whisper, a threat almost; right before Itachi flickered out of sight.

…_broken._

_XxX_

He found himself before her easily enough.

It didn't take much thought. Done almost unconsciously and being a man of extreme forethought and calculation, she had become a much needed respite.

He crept over the window's ledge and glided over the futon placed next to it. She was so vulnerable for an attack it was almost tempting.

Standing over her, his dark onyx eyes slid over the small lump in the sheets. All he could visibly see was a small mop of ebony that was splayed out over the pillow.

The small creature rustled slightly under his gaze but did not stir further. He sat on the edge of the bed, his weight compressing and giving her body the signal to rise at the change in pressure.

He heard a mumble.

Then something hit his back.

Itachi raised a brow.

Did she just kick him?

"Get…" He heard her command sharply and then felt another weak kick to his ribs. "…off."

He smirked. "And here I thought acquaintances enjoyed each other's company." He mused lightly.

Her arms shot up and then slammed down at her sides, ripping away the shrouding sheets and revealing a crumpled face of a now awake and extremely grouchy Kagome.

"Good evening, Higurashi-san."

She rubbed her eyes and wondered why the hell _he_ was here at such an ungodly hour. "Mm….what are you smiling about?" She muttered irritatingly.

"Hm… you don't want to know." He replied softly.

She sat up, stretched like a cat and then proceeded to yawn like one. "Well… you have impeccable timing…" She remarked sarcastically.

"Do I?" His tone was getting lighter by the second.

She nodded and rubbed her eyes, trying to get the blur to fade and see his face more clearly. "Mhm… I have a splitting headache."

"Consequences follow every action, Higurashi-san." He informed her blithely.

She shrugged. "If I didn't take that soldier pill, I would have probably collapsed."

He said nothing as his fleetingly pleasant mood dissipated completely.

Kagome looked at her clock, the blazing red numbers glaring back at her.

_1:03_

"Why are you here?" Kagome asked, she had a sinking feeling he was bringing bad news.

"…I have a mission in the morning."

She felt something tighten. "Oh…" It was only a matter of time before he would have been called away. Fire country was in a state of relative peace, but that didn't keep ANBU off duty any longer than a few days especially when you were the coveted Uchiha Prodigy.

"How long?" She asked absently as she gazed out into the dark night. The summer night sky was a warm velvet swirling with a rich purple, mixing with the sparkling black and clutching the waning moon.

"Three days… maybe four."

"That's it?" She snapped a bit too sharply.

Itachi nodded lightly. His back was illuminated by the silvery blue light of the moon and his face was shadowed in a deep purple shadow. "That is… how long I intend for it to last." He replied darkly.

"How long is the Hokage giving you?" She asked pointedly.

The crickets sang their nightly lullaby as the pair stayed silent for a moment, one waiting for an answer and the other, hesitating.

"Two weeks." He finally said.

Kagome sighed. "Rushing a mission is suicidal…"She said numbly as her head bowed slightly, making her eyes obscured by her bangs. "Why…?" She asked hoarsely. Looking up at his shadowed face with wide glistening eyes, she spoke again in a sharp whisper. "Why are you doing this?"

Itachi turned to her slightly. His face half shadowed and calm. "Get some rest." His voice was gentle as he placed a elongated hand on her slim shoulder and tenderly pushed her back down onto the futon.

She was already asleep before she even hit the pillow.

Itachi closed his eyes and let his mind drift, his mind relishing every moment of this fleeting _peace._

Peace…was an indulgence for someone like him.

Minutes soon melded into hours. The lullaby of crickets soon became the morning song of the birds.

The dark purple night faded into the rich blue of the morning and it was when the first shafts of soft light spilled onto the sheets was the moment Itachi opened his eyes.

Then closed them again.

Just another moment, just one more and he would leave.

Obligations, responsibilities, duties…

He had so many he had to attend to.

But he would rather just-

He opened his eyes, half lidded and framed by thin angled lashes, they slipped over to the small quiescent creature.

_Just…_

He stood, letting his hand nudge her slender arm and his eyes linger on the small bit of bruised neck.

Her eyes fell open, revealing glazed over glistening blue. Lashes fluttered slightly and blinked in a slight disoriented confusion.

_Just…_

"Sleep well." He said, because he knew she wouldn't.

She felt a cool hand rest on her cheek, feather like and hesitant.

_Rather…indulge._

He turned away.

Walking away silently as if he was a ghost and was never meant to be there but instead haunt her.

Then she realized, why…

_Why are doing this? _

For when night crept in, she would be alone and things would creep into her dreams that only _he_ could keep at bay…

Dependency would be the end of them all.

She watched him go and so she did something beyond selfish.

_Rushing a mission is suicide…_

She prayed he would hurry back.

XxX

"Why is she wearing a scarf?"

Sakura's eyes drift past the obnoxious, spiky haired Uchiha. She then shrugs and begins to swirl the ice in her glass of untouched water with the congealed cubes clattering against the glass infuriatingly. "Said, she had a pretty bad scar." Sakura sighs, her hand cups her cheek and her jade eyes glaze over as she tunes out the mundane sounds of the restaurant.

Until, Shisui starts to talk.

"No she doesn't." He pointed out; his elbows slam onto the tabletop making the glassware shake precariously as he narrows his eyes at a certain pair of preteens across the room, who seem to be getting along pretty fucking well.

Kagome, his dear sweet innocent, emotionally unstable, slightly suicidal and extremely cynical but still ever so dear _chibi_ was chatting _civilly_ with the boy across from her. Konohato or whatever his name was, was to say the least, head over heals in love.

Shisui narrowed his eyes.

The boy's cheeks were permanently glazed in the most irritating blush, his grin stretching from ear to ear and his eyes were dazzling in utter awe at the girl sitting across from him. The only thing stopping him from disemboweling the poor boy was that one, he was the Sandaime's grandson, which was pretty touchy when trying to get rid of bodies and cover up evidence. He pondered this a moment…then shook his head. No, definitely the only reason that he kept his hands to himself was that he had a closet sadist who could castrate him in a matter of seconds and then obliterate what was left with the fury of a thousand suns…

_And she wonders why some people scream at the sight of pink…_

With the hope of one day having children keeping Shisui restrained, he continued to prattle. Which was harmless, or so he thought.

Oh how wrong he was.

"She's lying to you." He said in a lighthearted tone.

Sakura shot him a cold stare. "About?"

"She has no scar on her neck."

"So then, what was I supposed to do, Shisui?" She snapped.

"No need to get snap-"

"I'm not snappy!"

"Okay!" He threw up his arms in surrender and then vaguely wondered how a pink haired girl could be so fucking scary. "I'm just saying… anyways, you don't look happy about this… _date _thing."

Sakura sighed.

"Is whiskers really so dead set on it."

Sakura sighed again, her face drooping and her shoulders uplifting and then falling in a unceremonious shrug. "Naruto just wants her to interact with people her own age, make a friend or two… ya know? Find some normalcy."

"Friends…sure." He even smiled at that fact. "That." He pointed at the flirtatious Genin and the impassive ANBU. "…no." His face blanked.

Sakura poured a small cup of sake. "I don't know… I just don't think we shouldn't force anything onto her." Her nails tapped the ceramic cup, until they clutched onto it and brought it to her lips. "I understand what Naruto is doing, but I am not comfortable with it." She set down the empty cup.

"Then why don't you go stop it?" He asked in a serious tone.

"Naruto trusts me. I said I wouldn't tell Sasuke and make sure it went off without a hitch." Sakura pours another cup of the clear alcoholic beverage.

"Hm well, go with your instincts is what I always say." Shisui's advised lightly, as he sipped his own cup. "Kept me alive countless times."

Sakura nodded solemnly until a thought popped into her head. "Ya know… for such a skilled ANBU, you sure have a lot of time on your hands."

"That's because I _am_ skilled." He shot her a lopsided grin and quick wink right before he downed the rest of the contents of his cup. "But not as skilled as Itachi." He added under his breath.

"Speaking of your dearly beloved cousin…"

Shisui gulped as his face paled. "…heh?"

"How does he feel about Kagome-chan?" She pried with peering jade eyes.

"I already told you…"

"No. You told me, he sees himself in her, like a lot of us do so we wish to help her." Sakura almost seemed to lecture. "But, what does he feel towards her?"

Shisui was silent for a moment until he sipped his sake.

"I mean, is it love?"

Shisui gulped. "Uh… not yet…" He had to choose his words very carefully.

"Love doesn't have to be based off attraction." Sakura informed Shisui suddenly.

"Are you defending him?"

"Depends."

That was his queue to explain. "Well… to be honest, I can only take a guess at things with him. I mean, Itachi has always been _off_."

"Off?"

Shisui nodded, hesitated but then proceeded. "He's been trained to think differently than others, it's like…" Shisui's eyes look up, he is struggling to explain. "… it's hard to explain, but it's like when someone says you can only do this, to keep alive and protect the only ones close to you, but the things you must do go against who you are as a person… so in the end you just lose your identity all together." His words were chosen very carefully, ANBU or not, he was an Uchiha first and foremost.

"So the Clan brainwashed him."

Shisui crossed his arms and snubbed his nose. "I didn't say it."

"So who does Itachi care about?"

Shisui rolled his eyes and then sneered. "The one person who wants to grow up just like him."

Sakura felt her frustration deflate. "Sasuke has no idea what he is aiming for, does he?"

"Nope." Shisui's voice is sharp. "Why do you think I call him a brat? Kid has no idea what he has and has no appreciation for anything."

"The Clan has used this against Itachi?" Sakura asks, but she doesn't want the cruel and honest answer.

Shisui snorted. "Of course... What's the best way to get a pacifist to kill?"

Sakura's frustration became afire once again as her nails dug into the wood, creating crescent indents. Kami, she hated that Clan. "Blackmail." She gritted out.

"Yep. They threatened Itachi, telling him that he would never see Sasuke again and when that wasn't enough because he was such a selfless bastard, they would say Sasuke would become his replacement." Shisui's voice grew darker with each word.

"Well, now Itachi is a well trained killer and they have Sasuke gunning for it as well. Seems like they have won."

"Hm, maybe… though knowing Itachi-"

"He's thinking ten steps ahead." Sakura interjected.

"More like a hundred." Shisui mutters as he slumps slightly. "I wonder what he has planned… I mean, knowing him… the last thing he wants is Sasuke to be doing assassinations but he doesn't want him weak and he doesn't want chibi doing anything…"

"Seems protective." Sakura mused; her voice had taken on a slightly softer tone as her eyes slid over to the unlikely couple. She blew a few pink strands out of her face in a very irritated fashion.

"You have no idea…" Shisui added, his broad shoulders slumping and his elbows propping themselves on the dainty table that looked as if it was going to shatter under his imposing form. His dark eyes watched the raven haired kunoichi who had just raised a brow at whatever the boy across from had just said and then pushed away a cup with two straws placed in it, politely but firmly refusing to share with the boy.

"I think it has to do with fear…"

Shisui's eyes snap up to Sakura, who speaks in a monotone of a voice as her jade eyes glaze over and her thoughts wander.

"Fearing what they will become, if they tread the same path…" She looks back at Shisui, her face blank and viridian eyes vacant.

Shisui nods. "Aa… he's scared they will turn into him."

Sakura smiles slightly, her lips upturn fondly as her green eyes glow with an appreciative light. "Hm… good to know he has _some_ humanity in him." She finishes her cup of sake, with a satisfied sigh. "A little possessive maybe, but overall decent…" She commends lightly.

"Heh, you have no idea…" Shisui eyes became unfocused as his thoughts began to wander.

"I feel a flashback coming on…"

"It was a long time ago-" Shisui slurred dramatically.

"Oh Kami…"

"In a far off land, known as the Land of Fire-"

"We're here now."

"…but its village in no way shape or form had anything to with Fire and so the best thing they could come up with was-"

"Don't-"

"Leaf." Shisui exclaims triumphantly. "Yes… and in this _epic _village of leaves-"

"Please stop."

"-was a Clan!" He exclaimed loudly earning a few stares from other customers. "…that named themselves after the even _more_ epic hand fan!"

"You're not listening."

"And in this hand fan Clan, was a prodigy and so they named him after the mighty animal-"

"If you say we-"

"Weasel, yes the mighty weasel. So weasel boy had a little fetish."

Sakura gaped. "What?" She snapped.

"Get your mind out of the gutter." Shisui instructed seriously and then continued his tale. "So anyways, when I was six I personally encountered weasel boy for the first time… he was about three--

"_You look like a girl." _

_The young boy standing on the water looked at him through draping slate black hair. His eyes, large and angled, poked out beneath the straight dark veil. The young boy's face was slimming, already, shedding the waning baby fat and producing aristocratic features that did not betray his lineage. _

"_How do you do that?" The older boy on the shore asked, his faded black hair was spiked in an unkempt style as he examined the stoic toddler standing over the placid waters. _

_The small delicate looking boy blinked and then shrugged. _

"_Well get out of there, you might drown or somethin'." _

_The toddler walked over the rippling waters with soft plops and a few droplets splattering about. _

"_What were you doing out there alone kid?" _

_The boy shrugged and sat down on a small tuft of grass. _

_Shisui found himself sitting next to him. "Well anyways, I'm Shisui." He shot a cheeky grin and outstretched a dirt encrusted hand. _

"_Itachi." He said his name as if it was to drive away anyone who might hear it and ignored the extended dirtied hand with a slightly wrinkled nose._

"_You're Itachi?" He asked incredulously. _

_The boy shrugged as he brought his knees to his chest, with his shoulders slumping and head bowing forward. _

"_I've seen you before… but you're hair was…" He waved a hand over his own short hair. "…yeah." _

_A grumble was heard. _

"_You hungry?" Shisui asked the curled up Itachi and then dugout a plastic bag full of baked goods. _

_Itachi's angled wary eyes inspected the suspended bag. _

"_They're cookies, have you never had one?" Shisui was mortified._

_Itachi shook his head and wrinkled his small nose even further. _

"_Kaa-chan makes the best! Try one." He dug a grubby hand into the bag, plucked out one of the round cakes and held it out for the Uchiha heir. _

_Itachi hesitated and then finally cautiously took it into his small skinny hand. He brought it to his unmoving lips and then suddenly, he took the smallest nip at the sweet baked dough. He then chewed and then slowly but surely ate the entire cookie in the most efficient manner possible and then nodded in approval._

"_Ha! Told you!" And with that triumphant exclamation, Shisui placed the bag between them, plucked one out and then plopped the entire cookie into his mouth whole. "I thought you were some kind of genius?" Shisui chided lightly as he took another baked good. _

_Itachi took another as well._

"_I mean everyone keeps calling you a prodigy, can you really do ninjut-Oi! That's the last one!" And he yanked the small round cake out of his new companion's scrawny hand. _

_Itachi looked at him. _

_Shisui grinned. "What? I always get the last one." _

_Itachi stared, his slightly plump face blank and pale as paper. _

_Shisui smirked and held it over his gaping mouth mockingly. "What ya gonna do?" He took it away from his mouth and then waved it in front of the younger boy teasingly. "Hehe… c'mon…you know you want it."_

"_Give it back." _

"_I don't think so…" He waved it again. _

"_It was mine first." His voice is stern. _

"_Technically, they are all mi- OW!" Shisui looked down frantically-_

_Only to see Itachi's dark leveled eyes glaring up at him and his tiny mouth clamping viciously down on Shisui's hand. _

"_Why you little fucker!"_

_-_

"He bit you?"

Shisui nodded glumly. "I still have a scar…" He held up a hand for Sakura to see. "See?"

There were hundreds of tiny scars all over his hands. "Uh huh… so your point?"

"Itachi is a possessive bastard, that's my point."

"So how would this affect Kagome?"

"Remember what I said earlier, about how he sees more of himself more than any of you…well let's just say I think Itachi isn't going let himself see anymore."

"He doesn't want her to become anymore like him…just as he doesn't want Sasuke to either."

"Sasuke is different …"

"How?"

Shisui shrugged. "That is something I have yet to decipher, but let's just say chibi is like his last cookie… he has one more chance to do things right."

"Did you just compare her to a cookie?"

"It's better than toast…"

"What?"

"...nothing."

"You're a very strange man…"

"This is coming from a girl with pink hair and who used to be obsessed with-"

"Sasuke!" Sakura gasped.

"You still like that brat?" Shisui asked with a face of disgust.

"No! Look!" Sakura exclaimed with a pointing finger.

Shisui followed her line of sight. "…oh shit."

-

"So you like cats? I love cats!"

Kagome sighed. "What a coincidence." She muttered as she poked the tofu in her miso, taking out her annoyance on the innocent cube with sharp jabs of her chopstick. She sincerely regretted ever mentioning Buyo.

Konohamaru sighed as well, but it was dreamy. This girl would make a wonderful wife for him when he was Hokage, she was positively the strongest and most beautiful kunoichi he had ever laid eyes on. They would be unstoppable together!

He leaned forward. "So… you want to ditch them…" He jutted a thumb where Sakura and the guy with girly hair sat. "…and go someplace… _alone_?" He winked at her.

Kagome gaped, but right before she was about to speak a very…very calm voice resonated deeply throughout the room.

"Konohamaru…"

Kagome looked back, only to see Sasuke standing rigidly with his face blank and hand curling around the sheath of his weapon.

Kagome elbowed him before he could unsheathe his blade and continued to glare at him for intruding on something she could have handled herself.

"Oi teme! You're cramping my style!" Konohamaru exclaimed as he stood with an accusing finger.

Kagome eyes widened by a fraction as Sasuke seemingly moved but didn't, his still form flittered slightly as she realized he had simply moved just an arm.

Then just like that Konohamaru collapsed, falling face flat on the table with tableware cracking and food spilling.

Kagome whipped back around to Sasuke.

"What did you-"

He held up a hand bound in wrappings. "I do not solely rely on my Sharingan when it comes to memorization."

She smirked. _Pressure points…_ Kagome mused slightly, noting how she had disposed of his fan girls just the same, the day before. "Why?" She asked, her tone amused.

"I am merely… showing my appreciation."

Kagome shook her head. "And here I thought you were just a selfish brat…"

Sasuke smirked and then brought his hand to his shirt collar. Gripping the fabric, Sasuke pulled up on his dark Uchiha emblazoned shirt and eventually lifted it off his body, revealing his bare torso.

Kagome lifted a brow when he handed it to her. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She took the warm shirt.

Sasuke averted his eyes, crossed his arms and cleared his throat.

Kagome looked down on herself. "What? My dress isn't _that_ bad." She snapped as her arms unconsciously crossed in front of her chest…

…which only made it worse.

Sasuke's jaw clenched.

"Kagome…" Sasuke's voice was strung taut and as he turned fully away from her, Kagome could see his shoulder blades locked and his arms crossed stiffly.

Kagome sighed. "At least I'm not topless…" She accused the half naked Uchiha and then conceded by putting on the shirt. "You can look now…I'm _decent_."

Sasuke turned back around to see Kagome practically swimming in his shirt and hear something he didn't quite expect either.

Kagome looked up at him with her anomalous eyes and smiled slightly. "Arigato… Sasuke."

"…hn."

-

"I told you that dress showed too much cleavage!"

Sakura cringed. "Do you have to be so crude?!"

"At least I didn't dress her like a-"

"Okay! I get it!" Sakura propped up a menu and then hid her head between the flaps. "Do you think he saw us?" She whispered.

Shisui's eyes locked with a matching set of smoldering onyx that belonged to his brat of cousin. Sasuke glared at the two of them. "No… not at all." He said in such a lighthearted tone it was practically screaming facetiousness.

Sakura sighed relief anyways and poked her head out wearily, her frantic jade green eyes scanning the area to see if the coast was clear… "Shit!" And she ducked back down. "You lied! He's fucking glaring daggers at us!" She whispered vehemently.

"I thought sarcasm was something you spoke fluently!" He hissed back as he shot another wary glance across the restaurant, only to see the two raven haired shinobi had disappeared. "Alright, now he's gone…"

Sakura peeked out from the menu again. "He took Kagome!"

"And knocked out Konohachi." Shisui commented on the comatose Genin.

"Konohamaru!" She corrected under a harsh whisper. "Get your names straight!"

"Why are we still whispering?" He hissed back.

"I don't know!" She whispered venomously as she was still ducking behind her menu shield.

"Well… this was completely pointless." Shisui spoke normally.

"Whispering?" She questioned.

Shisui rolled his eyes. "…the date with what's his face." He tilted his head in the unconscious preteen's direction.

"I wonder whose fault that is..." Sakura drawled as she slapped the menu on the table and shot an accusing stare at the Uchiha across from her.

"Nani? I am innocent!"

"I only told _you_ about the date and now I regret trusting you even a smidgen!" She pinched two fingers together to where there was only a small space between them, emphasizing the small the amount.

"But I didn't tell Sasuke!" He finally confessed.

"Then who did you…?" Her words trailed off and her tone deflated as Sakura was finally hit with realization. "You told Itachi?" She demanded; it was more of a statement than a question.

"…I-I may have mentioned…" Shisui slowly scooted back his chair.

"So that means Itachi has already manipulated Sasuke?" Sakura questioned in defeat as she buried her head into her palms. "He was already a step ahead of us…" She muttered as she sighed heavily.

"Just like I said…" Shisui mused as he took a sip of sake.

Sakura looked up at him with wide green eyes. "I guess he took care of it for us… now we can put the blame on him when Naruto starts yelling…" Sakura seemed relieved until she let her thoughts continue. "…though I wonder… if Itachi truly manipulated Sasuke to getting him to do this or Sasuke just wants to help her too…"

"Mhm…" Shisui looked up with a devious gleam in his eyes.

"What is it?" Sakura asked hesitatingly.

Shisui simply shrugged. "Just wondering about whose calling dibs on the last cookie."

XxX

"You've been working on your swordsmanship, I presume?" Kagome asked as she propped herself on one of the three wooden posts. They were currently in Team Seven's training ground and were now properly dressed.

Sasuke twirled his chokutō about his hand before launching it back into its sheath. "Aa."

Kagome dangled her legs off the wooden post. "Has Kakashi-sempai been helping you?"

Sasuke shrugged. "His input isn't as useful as yours."

"He used a tanto when he was younger; its style is a bit more… _personal_ unlike longer blades." She informed him absently. "However, I'm sure his advice is much more helpful when it comes to overall performance."

Sasuke discarded her compliment of his sensei. "What happened to it?" Sasuke asked rigidly as he retightened the bindings around his palm.

"It broke." She said simply as she cast a glance into the cloudless blue sky above. "Don't ask me; ask him on your own time." She instructed him as she looked back down on him. Kagome's eyes studied him from behind a shredded curtain of black as she leveled him with a stare. "Now Uchiha, I am only going to ask this once…"

Sasuke looked up, only to see the scrutinizing ANBU practically glaring at him and then he nodded for her to continue. Whatever this was, he would confront it head on.

"Do you have any weaknesses? Anything you wish to work on before the exam?"

A long silent moment passed. The wind rippled over the grasses and the trees swayed in the surrounding forest.

"…no."

The rasp of metal could be heard as Kagome unsheathed her wakizashi. "Alright then…"

Sasuke mimicked her actions as he gripped his own hilt and pulled on his weapon.

"I'm not going easy on you this time, Uchiha." She remarked coldly as she stood.

Sasuke smirked and fell into a defensive battle stance. "Neither am I."

With that said Kagome flickered out of sight and the only sound that was heard after was the ear splitting clang of metal and the splatter of blood…

XxX

"He's out on a mission, Shisui." Mikoto informed her nephew wearily as she dusted the shelves of the bookcase.

Shisui sighed. "Where's Sasuke then?"

"In his room, Shisui." Mikoto sighed exasperatedly. "Kagome-san is with him…" She added a solemnly.

"Still?"

Mikoto walked out of the hallway and back into the kitchen.

Taking the hint, Shunshin no Shisui stalked through the hallways of the seemingly always dark Uchiha Manor and stopped right in front of his younger cousin's bedroom door when he heard a groan…

"What the…?" But his words were lost from what he heard.

He heard a hiss of pain.

"Hold still." He heard Sasuke's voice command and he seemed frustrated.

"I am…" He heard Kagome grit out.

"This will hurt at first."

"…I know that much! Now pull back a bit."

"It's too tight…"

"Then just finish up already!" She snapped in a strained voice.

"…you're bleeding."

"That's your fault for not being patient…"

"Turn around."

"What? Why?"

"I need a better angle."

"If you would just know what you were doing…"

"I've never done this before."

"Obviously… Your brother at least knows how to do this."

"How do you know that?"

"Don't ask questions, Uchiha. Now, hurry up and get this over with."

"Turn around."

"Ugh…fine."

He heard a rustle of sheets.

"Better?" He heard Kagome hiss.

"…no."

"It would help if you weren't so clumsy."

"Our size ratio makes things difficult."

"I'm perfectly normal; you're the one that's too big."

"What is wrong with being big?"

"Nothing butter fingers… now finish up already."

"What is this supposed to do?"

"I don't know… never seen that before."

"What do you do with it?"

"Here… aah"

"I'm not putting this in your mouth…"

Shisui paled and then busted down the door straight off its hinges-

"What the fuck is going on here?!"

Which only revealed, Kagome sitting on Sasuke's futon with one bare outstretched arm and Sasuke kneeling behind her with a bottle of nutritional supplements in one hand and a white ribbon of binding in the other, which streamed from his palm and was halfway wrapped around Kagome's bleeding shoulder.

Kagome closed her mouth and leveled Shisui with a stare. "Please don't tell me that you thought…"

"Well, I assumed…"

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes and turned back around to his ministrations. He pulled the bandage taut after doing another loop around her upper arm.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

"What does it look like?" She snapped as she pointed to her bandaged shoulder and half bandaged upper arm.

"It's still bleeding." Shisui commented on the bright red blot that was increasing in size.

"That's because… a certain someone doesn't know how to dress a wound properly." She shot a pointed stare at Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed as he threw the bottle of pills to Shisui. "Do you know what that does?"

Shisui caught the bottle steadily. "Looks like a natural supplement… try it and see what happens."

"That's what I said…" Kagome drawled as she hiked up her sleeve a bit more.

"What happened? You guys get into a catfight?" Shisui sneered as he tossed the bottle back onto the futon.

"Sasuke learned how to project chidori through his blade and out into an attack…" Kagome muttered.

"You dispelled it with your Wind chakra." Sasuke retorted tersely.

"You still stabbed me."

"You hesitated in your strike."

"I would have killed you."

"I was about to counterattack, you underestimated me." Sasuke clipped as he tugged on the bandage causing Kagome to wince.

"You can't counter a concentrated Wind blade." She rejoined harshly back.

"You guys have been sparing this entire time?" Shisui interrupted their banter as he looked out into the darkening sky, the sun had already set which only left the last few wisps of fading light to fade.

They both didn't answer.

Sasuke tied the bandage around one more time before finishing off with a tight knot.

"Alright, your turn." Kagome smirked as she pulled her dark sleeve down over her bandaged arm.

Sasuke pulled up on his shirt with a strained motion as it was soon revealed why he was uptight.

His torso was slit from his neck past his jutting shoulder blades, his sculpted chest, his rippling abs and dipping hips.

"Shit…looks like you were clawed by a cat." Shisui commented on the various gashes that marred the usually perfected torso of the younger Uchiha.

"You could always help…" Kagome hissed back. "I'm sure your Sharingan has picked up some medical ninjutsu."

"Uh… I actually just came to say that your electricity has been turned off." Shisui informed Kagome quickly with one foot already out the door.

"How do you know where I live?" Kagome interrogated as her hands took on a slight emerald glow.

Shisui shrugged. "Ask pinky…whose says sorry by the way." He quipped before turning around and flickering out sight. "Ja chibi."

"Hentai…" Kagome gritted out as she began to heal the flesh wounds on Sasuke's torso.

"Aa…" Sasuke added under his breath. He was never fond of medical ninjutsu, as his experiences with it usually consisted with him being near death with a screaming or worse off Naruto and a blubbering Sakura who was begging him not to die. Other times usually consisted of training exercises in which Sakura didn't even bother to disable the nerves. All in all, it was never a pleasant experience but with Kagome, he found himself being lulled to sleep practically.

He felt her chakra entering his skin, hovering gently over his muscles and then slowly urging the skin to reform. It didn't feel forced and for once, in a strange sense, felt natural. When her hands wafted over to another gash, he felt a warm sensation take over the newly formed flesh.

Kagome's hands drifted about, letting her healing chakra flow forth from her hands and into Sasuke, who had slumped forth after a moment. "Don't fall asleep." Kagome reprimanded softly.

"Hn…" He winced after his grunt, which had caused a few delicate cuts to split even further. "What are you going to do?" Sasuke asked distantly as he leaned forward a bit more.

"About what?" Her hands moved to another cut and then proceeded to help it regenerate.

"You're apartment."

"Oh…" She then shrugged lightly as her hands drifted past to another abrasion.

"You can stay here." He offered stiffly.

Kagome paused, the soft glow of her hands dimmed for a moment in lack of concentration as she looked up at the Uchiha. Kagome shook her head with a light smile. "…alright."

A few more minutes passed as Kagome sealed all of the major gashes and left a medicinal salve on the rest. "We should bind these. The newly formed skin is still fragile." Kagome instructed as she dug out a fresh roll of gauze like bandages and handed it to Sasuke.

Sasuke proceeded to stiffly wrap his lower torso in bindings, his back halfway facing Kagome as they both sat on the futon. "You can have my room." Sasuke told her absently as he finished tying off the bandages.

Kagome looked up from her knees; her feet had started to go numb from sitting this way. She nodded to herself and watched Sasuke's eyes droop slightly.

Before sleep won its battle, he stood with a creak of wood and a rustle of sheets.

Her words came out before she could stop them. "Wait…" She whispered sharply.

Sasuke turned around, very slowly. His dark eyes glancing back warily.

"I… can't be alone… at night anymore." Her voice had become barely an audible murmur.

Sasuke looked down on the small girl. Her hair falling past as her head bowed; the shredded ebony curtain shadowing her face. Her trembling hands on her knees with feet splayed out on the sides, she looked completely at his mercy.

"_She must have had a nightmare last night."_

She looked terrified.

"_I won't abandon her…"_

He swallowed hard.

He heard her sigh and watched as Kagome resigned herself to her fate as she turned away from him and laid down on the navy blue silk. Her dark form melding into the fabric sinuously as she fell completely silent.

Sasuke sighed and then slowly, reluctantly sat on the futon and then hesitantly laid back.

Kagome was silent, but he felt her body slack considerably.

After a moment of Kagome balled up in the corner and Sasuke lying straight as a board halfway off the futon, he heard a soft laugh.

"This is awkward…" Kagome pointed out with a hollow titter.

Sasuke grunted with a smirk. "Aa…"

XxX

It was the silence that woke him.

Complete and utter silence.

Not even the crickets chirped.

His eyes snapped open without hesitation.

Sasuke sat up, his eyes scanning about the dark room and straining while doing so. He felt his eyes tempting him, pleading with him to activate his bloodline limit.

But he didn't for Kagome was-

He slammed a hand to the empty space beside him. The sheets were cold.

Gone.

His hand searched in the dark, frantically patting the sheets for anything.

She was gone.

His Sharingan flared to life instantly, his irises bled and became emblazoned with the familiar tomoe as they darted about the room.

Dark still but no shadow obscured any object or inhibited his vision. Everything was distinguishable with his eyes. Any movement made he would be able to see instantly.

Flittering about the room, his gleaming vermillion orbs deemed the room empty.

Letting the pads of his feet touch the cool wooden floors, Sasuke stood with the sheets momentarily clinging to his waist.

Slowly, silently he crept across the room and slipped out of the already open window.

The night was warm as he walked silently along the wall, back facing the manor and palms grazing the concrete.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

His movements stilled.

Three tall dark figures flanked him in a V formation.

Sasuke turned around, his glowing red eyes slid over the motionless enigmas. The silvery light of the moon plastered itself onto their dark forms, ghosting them in an ethereal snow. They were like ghosts, motionless beings that held no expression but the pitiless frown from their masks. Each one tall and muscular stood in an androgynous uniform.

They had no identity.

They were ANBU.

"Uchiha Sasuke?" One said his name again, though now his inexpressive voice held a question.

"Yes…?" He responded cautiously.

The air changed.

"You're coming with us." Another stepped forward.

Sasuke took a wary step back away from them with hands up. "What is this-" But his words were caught in his throat when his face collided with the grass…

His eyes looked up, his vision dimming quickly as he felt his Sharingan forcefully dismissed…

"…Kagome?"

Everything went black.

XxX

He awoke with a ragged cough.

Eyes squinting, Sasuke brought a hand to his sore chest as his body lurched with another fit.

Everything was bright.

He heaved and out came a fine spray of blood from his lips…

It splattered onto the pristine white sand, glaring back at him with scarlet rivulets.

Stomach flat against the sand and with limbs sprawled out in a very undignified manner, Sasuke craned his stiff neck to look up.

"He can move."

Whispers broke out all around.

Everything was immersed in black around him.

Like a unforgiving spotlight had been placed on him, illuminating the sand and the encircling walls-

Walls…

His eyes darted about, aching from the intense light.

It was like an arena almost. Small and compact with towering walls and no visible exit…

But where there were arenas, there were spectators…

His senses usually so highly attuned and sharp were now muted and almost dulled completely.

But he felt them; they surrounded him with their faint signatures encompassing the dark expanse above him.

_ANBU…_

"Uchiha Sasuke?" A voice echoed from above.

Wincing, he put a hand solidly on a small dune and tried to stand with as much dignity he could manage.

Standing erect with a composed face, he looked up in the direction of the voice.

It was unnerving.

They could all see him but he couldn't even distinguish a single outline of a person.

"Yes?" He asked strongly which was followed by a whole stream of whispers.

It seemed everyone was anxious.

His stomach plummeted.

"You have been summoned here by recommendation of Captain Higurashi-Nara Kagome." The voice stated. "As has Branch member Hyuuga Neji…" His voice trailed slightly, as if hinting…

Sasuke glanced to his left-

Only to find an unconscious Neji face down in the sand.

It seemed Kagome had taken care of the Hyuuga lying.

"Captain Higurashi-Nara-" The voice began to call but was cut off when a white blur materialized in front of Sasuke and cut the adjudicator off.

"I'm here."

Sasuke saw her, her small form immersed in a white cloak as she had her back to him. Her voice was cold and sharp as was her body language.

"You have stated that candidate 012606, Uchiha Sasuke has the weakness of Genjustu…"

"Hai." He watched her pristine cowl bob with a slight nod.

"How did you acquire this information?" The voice interrogated.

"First Captain Uchiha Itachi."

Voices broke out among the ANBU spectators.

"You have had recent contact with Captain Uchiha Itachi?" The voice silenced the rest.

"Yes…" She replied icily.

"Following his departure?"

"Prior." She informed them all as her back straightened even more. "What does this have to do with anything?"

A few tense moments passed.

"We have lost all contact with his squadron."

Sasuke blinked.

Something in the air had changed.

Everyone was deathly silent.

He exhaled a shaky breath.

"I see…" He heard Kagome whisper and watched as her limply hanging palm curled into a vicious fist.

"Seventh Captain Higurashi Kagome." The voice snapped her out of her reverie. "You are to proceed with candidate 012606 until 012587 has regained consciousness."

Her white hood bowed slightly in resignation. "Hai."

The cloaked figure turned silently, not even disturbing the grains of sand as she turned to him. Her white cowl hung past her face, shadowing it completely save for a few stray tendrils of ebony.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She spoke his name with such disassociation, like he was a stranger.

"Your weakness is Genjutsu…"

She formed a delicate hand sign, her fingers curling with the intricacies.

She paused, a hand hesitating...

Reaching up, she gripped her pristine cowl which revealed…

A mask.

Smiling back at him with the most innocent smile on its porcelain lips, the cat mask stared back at him with slatted eyes. Dark cobalt marked its whiskered cheeks and elongated ears.

"As such I will be your opponent." Her voice was hollow.

Craning its neck…

The cat looked up in a seemingly arbitrary direction.

"You may proceed…" The voice confirmed. "…_Yamaneko_."

The cat looked back, its face telling him all he needed to know.

"Your exam begins…"

She was a predator.

He was the prey.

They were nothing else.

They were ANBU…

Nothing else…

"…now..."

Everything shattered.

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Okay… well I got Shisui completely wrong for all you who read the manga…but I think we all agree that my Shisui is better!

**Author's Note: **You did it! You did it! You finished! _–hands you a cookie-_ Don't tell Itachi, I gave you this! Anyways… I hope no one has any problems with this chapter…I think I rewrote about a good 20 pages… ugh… but seriously I don't even know what to say because this chapter literally was just sooo long. Either you hate me for that or love me. I'm hoping for the latter, but I was definitely sick of the day to day chapters so I sort of sped things up…hehe like combined two chapters into one…sorry!

Check my profile for updates, progress and occasional previews!

Anyways… a **few** words from you on the chapter would make these 24,000 words all the worth while!

**Next Chapter:** The Exams have come to a close, leaving Sasuke's fate up to the proctors, will he pass or fail? Will he throw the exam to force our little prodigy out of ANBU for good or face her in battle to defeat her… or will he just fail altogether? Well…that's the least of his worries when he becomes accustomed to Kagome's lil' sleeping habit and finds out that Itachi…doesn't share.


	9. Little Hands

**Author's Note: **Well, here it is! Along with the pairing finally announced. _(looks down) _Really, are you that surprised. Well, I bet no one will be able to guess the one-sided pairings… actually those are much more scandalous.

**Pairings:** Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome _(These overlap one another in most mysterious of ways)_

**Side Pairings: **Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

_Flashback Time!_

* * *

_**6 Months Ago…**_

"_Listen well, Kagome_." The words of her Hokage echoed through her mind louder than any roar of thunder or screech of lighting. _"Your mission is simple, but delicate. You are to infiltrate Kaminari no Kuni, which who we stand on very shaky terms with already and you are to dissemble a crime syndicate within its borders." _

"_This syndicate works on promoting themselves as cheap mercenaries who do not have the moral setbacks of Konoha, many have already attempted this but, this group has created a great uproar between smaller countries by encouraging conflict between the Daimyos." Tsunade sighed. "Documents have been forged, leaders manipulated, borders intentionally breached, civilians influenced that war is the only solution and false accusations flying like kunai… There is so much pressure from all sides that the weak minded Daimyos have no choice but to fold… you must stop this before it gets out of control and starts effecting the greater countries." _

"_There is little information on this syndicate, but the little we have has been proven to be extremely difficult to extract… It seems Kaminari no Kuni has been getting a commission in order to keep quiet and they intend to keep it this way… They have total disregard for how serious this situation has become and have made blatant hints that they will continue to disregard this fact just to spite us… you must end this."_

"_Intel tells us that they are within Lightning country as of now, however their leader, location, ultimate goals and most of their clients are all unknown…This would require a full squadron to accomplish, Kagome… but we do not have the resources, so you must go instead." _

"_Kagome… if Kaminari catches wind that we are infiltrating their country and dealing with their internal matters… we'll have a war on our hands. Iwa would encourage such a front just as they did with the Hyuuga incident… your name isn't in the bingo books and your face isn't well known making you the perfect candidate for this mission." _

There were seven chakra signatures, pulsing with the itch to fight.

"_War would break out if your allegiance to Konoha was discovered."_

She crested the rocky precipice and landed in a crouch. Her hair hung past in a sopping black curtain and as she stood-

"_This is to never happen, Kagome, however if you are captured, I have to inform you that in order to avoid war…" _

A crack of lightning broke across the grey black sky, the piercing white light illuminated the masks of seven Kaminari ANBU that surrounded her with blades poised for the kill…

"_Konoha will deny your existence, if you are captured there will be no rescue, if you are tortured or your origin is in danger of being discovered, you are to dispose of your body by any means possible. Disposal is your first priority, even if you are still alive…"_

"Hn, well I knew someone was climbing my mountain but I couldn't guess it was going to be a little girl…" The kneeling ANBU stood, his hand lingering on the ground for but a moment before hanging limply by his side. The mountain stilled. "Well, I drew you out easily enough, girl… so might as well give up. I rather not kill a kid."

"She's no kid in my book." A female snapped from behind porcelain. "I've seen her kind… they're more ruthless than any adult."

Another sighed. "So where you from?" He spoke as if they had just been introduced.

Kagome just smirked.

"_As of now, you are alone…"_

"Nowhere."

**_Hours Later…_**

Now _this_ was getting ridiculous.

Here she was standing in rain that felt like ice, with three more Kaminari ANBU to dispose of and she was completely out of senbon…

Her chakra reserves were waning, but the soldier pill was helping her in that.

No senbon, meant no quick solutions for rescinding their lightning attacks. The other four ANBU were unconscious, too susceptible to Genjutsu, as the other three glared back at her through cracked masks.

The woman of the three charged first with lightning hiss on her blade. It sparked and crackled in the downpour of rain. The woman darted about with a Shunshin no Jutsu easily enough, her footing never once disturbed by the slick rock of the mountain.

Her timing had been perfect and Kagome watched as the dark skinned shinobi lunged at her with a flawless strike to the ribs only to really aim for the throat.

But Kagome was smaller, faster and caught the blade with her wakizashi before the other woman could even attempt to bring down her katana.

The lightning fizzled out as Wind chakra, superior to lightning, canceled it out. The Kaminari kunoichi stumbled back at the sudden disconnection from her weapon and Kagome exploited that fraction of a second weakness.

A swift kick to the temple sent the kunoichi flailing to the serrated mountain stone.

She sighed, it was hard to keep one's identity concealed and _not_ kill the ANBU finding out. The unconscious kunoichi groaned on cold rock, her mask was shattered halfway leaving her left cheek mauled by bits of porcelain with cold rain pelting on her.

Kagome looked up, last time she checked there had been two more. She bit out a curse, for Kami's sake she had only taken her eyes off of them for but a moment. Now there was only one, who looked bored as he wore no mask and uncaringly let the rain bombard his face.

She let out a shaky breath, rain spilled over her eyes and lips. It was refreshing, but she could really do without the worry of hypothermia at the moment. She tilted her blade tauntingly.

"I have no intention of killing a kid." The other shinobi drawled as he rubbed his left eye sleepily.

This ANBU knew she hadn't killed a single member of his platoon and was calling her bluff.

The small girl narrowed her pale eyes at him. Her hair plastered itself to her back and neck as she crouched into predatory stance. "You might just have to." Her words were cold.

The man shook his head. "I thought I'd seen everything… but if this is how we raise children nowadays, then our world is truly lost."

Kagome lunged stiffly with her blade humming with chakra.

The Kaminari ANBU blocked her easily enough with a straight sword. They stood motionless, her strike angle enhancing the strength of the blow and equaling his own brute power.

His eyes were half-lidded until he felt himself speared through the ribs.

_Four times. _

Kagome's face blanked at that and felt her momentary fury fizzle and go out. She really hadn't meant to draw blood.

Water chakra pulsated under her feet and spiraled out into four spear-like columns, distracted by her strike, they harpooned and exploited his unguarded areas.

With a swift flick of the wrist, the water spears dispersed and the shinobi fell to his knees with a now shattered blade.

The man wheezes, it wasn't a fatal wound, no internal organs harmed but it still left him gasping with gurgled breaths.

Six down, one more to go.

Kagome felt the ground rumble beneath her feet.

She jumped.

And watched as the earth shattered and shot at her with earthen spears.

She was caught.

Her Wind chakra couldn't simply brush these off. She tried anyway, the worst of it was blown away with a powerful gust; still, thin streams of rock caught her shoulders and sent her sprawling in the other direction.

Kagome was on her stomach, rain pelting her contorted back and small mangled arm.

She couldn't feel anything.

All she saw was her palm flat against the earth with ruby red streaming over her fingers.

The Earth natured ANBU stalked over to her haughtily, stared down at her and spoke. "You're holding back."

She didn't look up; she just laid a cheek on cold stone.

Maybe this was it.

On a abandoned mountain peak in a foreign land, this was where her short journey would end.

Of course, the ANBU had no intention of killing her, no they would take her and…

Tsunade's voice whispered between her temples.

'…_disposal is your first priority…'_

With one last final breath, she conceded.

Really, it must be nice here when it wasn't raining. It would make a nice grave.

She began to channel her chakra to her heart…

Suicidal jutsu was one of the first things you learned when you became a Jounin.

That is, she would have done it if it wasn't for the explosion.

"_Katsu!"_

Everything went black after that.

_She had been dreaming of flying. _

Which had been nice, her usual dreams weren't as pleasant or so, carefree.

She let her eyes stay closed, that is, she wanted to relish such a light feeling instead of feeling the weight of the world on her.

The moment she opened them, her vision was blurred.

_Minor concussion. _

She tried to move her injured arm but ice chilled her veins as she found it was bandaged.

Kagome sat up sharply with a gasp and made a grab for something…. something pointy…and preferably sharp.

The resounding echo of drips caught her ear as her vision cleared to reveal dimly lit rock.

She was in a cave.

With a fire.

She was stripped of her weapons, with wounds miraculously bound and no recollection on how she got here.

Now, _this _was cliché.

If there had been some omniscient author writing her story she would berate them for their lack of creativity at this moment.

Beside her the dimly lit hearth was crackling with complacent red light and minimal warmth.

Now came the part where her mysterious rescuer came to reveal himself.

"You're awake, yeah."

Kagome turned dazedly to the mouth of the cave. She winced at the small movement.

There stood a man, with vicious blue eyes and blonde hair standing in front of the curtain of rain spilling over the entrance. Something small and white fluttered in his palm. He quirked a grin at her that made her feel as if he had fangs instead of teeth.

"Name's Deidara… mind telling me your name, hm?"

* * *

**_-Chapter Nine-_**

_Little Hands_

* * *

_"Uchiha Sasuke." She spoke his name with such disassociation, like he was a stranger._

_"Your weakness is Genjutsu…"_

_"As such I will be your opponent."_

"_Your exam begins…now."_

_Everything shattered._

_**3 Weeks Later…**_

_Run…_

He had to run.

There was no time to even run. He had to be there _**now.**_

His body burned, his legs seared as he bounded to another tree limb. He landed heavily with a pant. His knees gave, trembling pathetically as his back hunched with hands curling into fists of frustration. Knuckles turned white and palms red as he gritted out between clenched teeth. "Move…"

And so he did…

XxX

Closing her eyes she focused in on the withering chakra signature.

It was waning fast, her lips twitched into a small frown.

"What is it?" The man loomed over her with brows knitting.

"He's fallen right into it, I would think with his Sharingan…"

"He would have seen it coming." He finished for her.

She nodded. "It's too easy. He's trapped."

"Don't underestimate him."

XxX

The border, it was close.

Once there he could alert a Perambulations squadron of the upcoming threat that was about a half a day behind him.

If he hadn't been in ANBU for the past few weeks he would have died from exhaustion alone…

He grunted as he stilled on another thick bough of a tree. He was close.

It was his duty, his duty as a member of the Intelligence Unit to warn the Hokage of the upcoming attacks.

War was upon them.

And Uchiha Sasuke was the only one who knew.

XxX

"Where is he now?" The man's strained voice clipped.

"Over the border, his speed makes things… difficult." Her hands twitched and then steadied back into her hand sign.

"Has he noticed anything?"

She shook her head.

XxX

He flew past the trees, the lush leaves, the forest that was his home.

All of that was in his hands. All of it was about to go up in flames if he didn't move faster.

He moved through the shadows, the sunlight, his presence unbound and flaring, no matter how dim it seemed.

His chest started to ache furiously as his heart thudded against his ribs. He wasn't going to make it.

It was too late; they were too close behind him.

Just as his chest plummeted with inevitability, the trees parted and thinned, revealing a semi concealed wooden outpost cradled in the thick boughs.

Relief flooded every fiber of his body.

XxX

"You let him get this far."

"Of course." She stated through tightened lips. "I'm drawing it out a bit longer."

"Don't toy with him."

Her lids cracked open as her glistening irises slid over and eyed him harshly. "Don't insult me."

XxX

Sasuke's sole-less boots collided with the planked balcony.

He stumbled forth, his feet skidding across the wood as he caught himself on the gaping doorway of the Perambulation's outpost. His fingers curled on the wooden doorframe as he panted and the sun beat down on his back.

His bangs drooped past and plastered themselves to his temples as he let out another shuddering breath. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the glistening rivulets slid down neck.

The still figures stood in the shade of the outpost, their forms immersed in shadow as they stood around a large map and stared at the utterly exhausted Uchiha.

"You're a week early, Uchiha." Hissed the cat masked ANBU.

The smallest of the cluster of ANBU stepped forward with arms crossed and eyes narrowing behind the porcelain slits. Her small footsteps thudded gently over the wood as she walked up to her latest recruit.

"Where are your teammates?" The girl snapped as she pushed back the cat mask.

Sasuke could barely look at her as his ribcage contracted and expanded rapidly. He barely knew his teammates, he hadn't seen their faces or even heard their voices… let alone know their names. It was callous to think that their loss left him reasonably unaffected but he would be lying to himself otherwise.

"Gone." He rasped.

Kagome looked away with her delicate features grimacing as she breathed lightly. "What happened?" Everyone was deathly silent.

It was no secret that the newly instated ANBU had been specifically requested by Higurashi Kagome nor was it that she had sent him on a month long excursion through the smaller countries to check relations. Along with two other Reconnaissance ANBU operatives, Uchiha Sasuke received a covert mission that most waited years for.

"Tori, Kusa, Taki, Ame… they're all revolting."

"This is what you found when you investigated, this is what got you caught and your fellow teammates killed?" Her words lashed out at him. She was furious.

He'd never seen Kagome's face in such a way. Her porcelain features usually so delicate and smooth, now held a cold fury that made her face look almost as if might crack. Her eyes were harsh and sharp as she pierced him with blue daggers.

"They held them back-"

"So you could get away, right." She snapped before turning away from him in a flurry of disgust.

A moment passed.

She spoke with her back to him, her form shadowed his.

"How long?" Her words were solemn.

XxX

"Who should we kill first?"

The man rubbed his temples. "Wait for his teammates."

She nodded lightly as her brows knitted in concentration. "Just say when."

XxX

"We need to inform the Hokage." Kagome walked back to the strategizing table with Sasuke following numbly in her wake. Her voice was taut and dispassionate as she let her fingers graze the weathered map that was splayed across the table with masked ANBU encircling it.

"How much do you know?" Interrogated an all too familiar voice.

"Shisui…" Why he said his name was unknown to him but it was all to reassuring to have his cousin here. A familiar face in an all too foreign world.

The eagle masked ANBU didn't respond but remained uncharacteristically stoic. It wasn't too surprising to see the newly established Communications Captain to be at the side of the prodigious Reconnaissance Captain. The two came hand in hand…

"Gaki…you really…_ messed_ up." Shisui spoke wearily, he being the only one to know exactly what_ war_ truly meant. He ran his hands through his spiky hair that seemed even more frayed from the stress. "You said we have a half a day, what do you know?" He demanded with his voice booming.

"Too little time for that, he needs to get back to Konoha." Kagome instructed. "Shikamaru needs the information straight from the source."

Sasuke understood what she was implying, he needed to get out of here, not anyone else. They were all expendable compared to him, the source of the information. The source that Konoha needed to strategize with to prepare for the upcoming onslaught.

He was the only one who could sufficiently warn Konoha.

"He won't make it in time… none of us can, not without an emergency transportation jutsu." Shisui stressed.

"Do you even know what you're asking for?" Kagome chastised with her questions alone."The amount of chakra required for such a technique requires a full squadron…" She gestured to the handful of ANBU in the room. "…and as you can see, we're running low on resources already."

"If what he says is true… then we may have war upon us already." A miscellaneous ANBU spoke up.

"It's impossible, even if I did agree." Kagome snapped back, her hands met the ragged parchment imprinted with the layout of Hi no Kuni. Her knuckles blared white as her eyes narrowed in on it.

"We need time…Someone needs to stall the enemy."

A pregnant pause.

"How many teams do we have near the border?"

"One."

Silence hung.

"Team 7."

Kagome nodded with closed eyes. Her decision clear.

XxX

"Team 7 has just breached my perimeter." Her face was stoic as her lips barely moved.

"Good." The man nodded in approval. "How long until they reach the ANBU?"

"Not long, they're being called in by Perambulations." Her eyes were closed as her brow creased. "The moment to strike would be when they arrive."

"No, let's do something different."

A heavily lidded eye cracked open as she held the man with a wary gaze. "What other mind games do you plan on using?"

"Force the Uchiha to turn on his own, I want indecision and action to follow it. Let us see who he chooses… His teammates or his duty."

"Then that will be the end of it." The girl pressed.

"Only for your sake…" The man chuckled richly.

XxX

"What do you plan on doing, Kagome?" Sasuke's voice was strained and cold but she could see the desperation in those dark eyes. He knew all too well what she had planned, but he wouldn't dare voice it.

"Sasuke, calm down and let me do my job." She silenced him with a raised hand and a tender voice. Her porcelain face was set into a stern expression that looked painful on such young features. She walked up to him and stood before his chest as she looked up to him with vacant eyes. "Listen to me." The other ANBU behind her became a black blur against the streaming sunlight as they began to strategize. "There is no one else to hold them back…"

The mass horde of smaller country shinobi was heading their way but Kagome's plan… _no_…_**no**_… "No." The rage curdled in his gut and bubbled up through his throat to say only one restrained word.

"Sasuke, Naruto is capable, he will hold them back and save us." Kagome sighed as her head bowed; her bangs dropped past and shielded her. She leaned forward slightly and grabbed his still trembling hand. "You're underestimating him." She spoke lowly, almost a whisper. "Stop belittling his capabilities and let him do this."

"You say hold them back… that is only temporary, you are planning on his failure." His tone was well reserved, controlled even as he tried to find a logical solution to such madness but the accusation was still there and he knew it hurt.

Kagome seemed taken back as he felt her stiffen and her small grip tighten on his limp palm. "I am biding time, Sasuke. What would you have me do? Let you die along with the village."

"You are choosing between us." Sasuke stated callously as he snapped his hand out of her delicate grasp and still loomed over her.

"I have to and I choose you to live, now go and live and save our village." The desperation was threading its way through her voice, making it thin and weak.

It crippled him.

Sasuke stared down at her. His rage had simply gone out, that fragile flame that had flickered as his last remnant of strength had now gone out with her words. "No. You risk not only_ his_ life… but Kakashi's and Sakura's." His voice lacked any conviction but the disgust…

_That_… that would have cut her more than any blade.

"All the more reason you should have faith." She quipped with too little emotion.

Sasuke stilled, an icy chill crept between his shoulder blades. "This is not you…"

XxX

"Hm…"

"What is it?" The man demanded.

"He's finally noticed something." Her words were distant but the relief was still present in her now open eyes.

"He has a long way to go." The man reminded her coldly.

She said nothing.

XxX

"Oi Teme!" Hollered the enthusiastic orange blur.

Sasuke turned, no, forced his body to move and face his former teammates.

The trio strolled into the outpost with the sunlight on their backs.

It was only when they stepped into the shadow, Kagome spoke.

XxX

"He hasn't said a word." The girl's brow furrowed as her intricate hand sign trembled ever so slightly.

"What do you think he is doing?" The man loomed over her with a stern expression.

"He is observing… watching for another personality error… it's only a matter of time before he starts testing my parameters."

"He must make the decision before that happens." The man ordered.

XxX

"Do you understand, Naruto?" Kagome's words were hollow and weak as she had just explained the strategy. "Sakura will accompany you as you encounter the enemy." Her eyes snapped up to the silver haired Jounin leaning against a wooden support beam. "Kakashi, you will use your dog-nin along with the perambulations squad to locate the revolting shinobi." Kagome stood with hands falling limply to her side. "Any questions?"

"Yeah." An orange clad forearm shot up. "Where the hell is Teme going to be when this all goes down?" Naruto stood across from her, his posture was strict as he dug his fingers into his orange sleeves and his features set themselves into a menacing frown.

"Shisui will be escorting Sasuke to Konoha once our scouts verify it is safe." Kagome informed him sharply.

"We could leave now." Shisui suggested rigidly.

"No, we don't know how many they sent ahead of them, every invasion has one primary goal that is followed by everything else."

"And that is?" Naruto asked a bit agitated.

"To blind one's enemy, to eliminate communication." Sakura jotted in as she flexed a gloved fist. "We need to be wary, especially if the enemy sees us as its first target."

Shisui sighed as he ran a hand through his mussed hair. "Alright, but we leave within the hour whether or not it's been verified."

Kagome nodded in compliance as she pulled the porcelain mask over her own face.

The sun was setting, the last vestiges of orange light were flickering behind the darkening canopy, leaving the outpost cloaked in darkness.

A shriek interrupted the stagnant silence.

In came a pair of eager flapping wings and a pair of talons that desperately clasped themselves onto Shisui's forearm. The eagle let out a thin cry as it quirked its head to its master. The brown-golden feathers caught the fleeting rays of sunlight as its wings quivered ever so slightly and the bird lifted a talon endowed foot to reveal a small scroll attached.

Shisui didn't need to read it, but he did any way. "Perambulations has made contact, they will be here within the hour." Her words were solemn as the parchment crumpled mercilessly in his fist.

"Let's move then." Naruto spoke up, his resolve unwavering. "C'mon Sakura-chan." He beckoned the pink haired kunoichi, who simply nodded as she fell into pace with him.

Sasuke felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Let's go." Shisui's voice was solemn but all he was an expressionless mask.

Sasuke ripped out of his cousin's grip. "No… I'm not leaving them to die."

He felt Kagome's chakra flare, as well as Shisui's.

"Sasuke, your chakra reserves are waning as it is. You can't fight a horde of shinobi let alone me or Shisui. Just comply and go with him." Kagome was staring at him, he could feel the coolness of her gaze.

Sasuke ran a hand anxiously through his hair. "I can't… something… is wrong." He turned to her, the dying light of the sun streaked on her dark silhouette. "You're… wrong. You wouldn't do this." His voice was gaining strength.

"Teme…" He heard Naruto growl.

Kagome numbly unsheathed her wakizashi, the metal glinting red for but a moment. "What are you saying, _Uchiha_?"

"I am not leaving…"…_them._ He took his first solid step forward as he unsheathed his chokutō. "And they are not going to die."

"We all have a duty Sasuke, are you going to defy your orders?" Kagome prowled, her steps predetermined and measured as she stalked around him.

"No, I am defying _you_…" His words were venom as the red sunlight dripped off the anticipating blade. "_You… " _Who has chosen to abandon them, leave them to die all for the sake of duty… over me. "You would never choose me…"

_Over him. _

"Sasuke-kun!" He heard Sakura call at him. "Stop! We have to go before they reach us. You need to get out of here!"

"Teme!" Snarled Naruto, whose eyes were cold as steel and red as blood. "Don't you dare hurt Kagome-chan!"

Sasuke's eyes snapped over to his friend. "Do you even know what you're heading into?" Red clashed with red as they stared at each other.

Naruto's resolve wavered ever so slightly.

He knew.

He could see it in those bestial eyes.

_Certain death…_

That was what awaited them.

"…just go, teme." Naruto turned sharply away from him. "If I can save even one life from this, then it will all be worth it."

Naruto knew what he was, he was a weapon, a jinchuuriki, a tool among tools but right now, right at this moment he was the sacrifice.

"No." Sasuke fell into a stance. "Then why would you let Sakura go with you?" His words were deathly calm.

"Sasuke-!" Sakura hissed. "You never had any faith in us at all, right from the start. We were never good enough for you, were we?" She demanded as her eyes cooled into cold jade. "Damn it Sasuke, can you for once put aside your pride and let us do our duty _without_ you."

"_This_… has nothing to do with duty or pride…" His gaze fell from Sakura's gangly frame to the dark petite one that was advancing on him. "_You _know that." He spoke to the porcelain cat mask that all but smiled back.

"I won't let you die." Kagome gritted out as their blades met. Metal whined and clashed as the two faced off in a deadly dance. "I'll save at least one of-" Her words were cut off when she was thrown back with brute strength alone. "You will go back to Konoha, if it's the last thing I do!" She ducked from his swing, they were labored by fatigue as was his stance. There was an opening.

She exploited it.

A swift graze along the ribs left him staggering.

"If you don't go… we all die. If you do… Konoha lives and so do you."

"I'm not leaving." His resolve, stone and his blade, steel as he made a swift counter of her short swipe. "Naruto would never take someone down with him…"

He struck back.

"…and you would never let someone sacrifice themselves."

She was supposed to block.

His blade never met its smaller opponent. Just its mistress.

Whose blood splattered in such a slow agonizing fashion, he could see each rivulet dance in the air.

It was the fall of her wakizashi, the slackening of her grasp, how her weapon clattered to the floor uselessly and how her breath was frantic and strangled. Yes, it was all _that_ and so much more terrifying.

She was heavy. Yes, he felt her weight then, hanging there, limply on his blade.

He heard Sakura scream her name.

Naruto roared his.

Shisui stood, silent among them.

The other ANBU actually stepped back.

He heard only his own breathing as everyone else became farther and farther away. A ringing settled in his ears as he stared at her blood flecked mask.

He just remembered how her body sounded when it hit the floor and how even behind the mask, he could see her eyes pale and dim to the most agonizing shade. It reminded him of smoke over a pale blue sky, winter almost, but burnt and choked by the deathly smolder.

It was hideous.

And so was the smiling mask and the gouge that bubbled with blood that was too red with skin that was too grey.

He was thankful he didn't have to see her face.

Everything bled, Naruto's eyes, Sakura's hands, his throat…

He felt his knees cave in.

His sword, the one she gifted him had been her death.

She was supposed to block it…

She would have.

He felt Shisui behind him. "Let's go…"

No…

He stared at the tiny creature, the one he had promised his brother he would never abandon.

He grabbed onto the only thing he could and he could have laughed because it was just a foot.

And her foot was just so fucking small.

He held it tight, because he was staying and that was it…

It was done.

"…_kai."_

XxX

_Sasuke…_

Sasuke.

"Sasuke!"

It was bright.

"Sasuke, it's not real. You're fine. It's not real. None of it was real." The voice sounded as if it wanted to convince itself.

He was being shaken.

His eyes became sore, it was… bright.

He opened them further.

Really bright.

"Sasuke look at me!" The voice demanded as it shook him again, which didn't accomplish much considering the grip on him was _small._

His vision cleared slightly and he could have laughed.

Because he was staring at a hand.

And that hand was just so fucking small.

He blinked and met a pair of pale blue. Untouched winter sky still lived.

"I'm here…" He heard her whisper.

_Alive._

He smirked.

"…I know."

XxX

"Candidate 012606, Uchiha Sasuke has broken Seventh Captain Higurashi-Nara's Genjutsu within seventeen hours and thirty two minutes."

The cloaked man nodded, his white cowl dipped ever so slightly as the miscellaneous ANBU informed him of the obvious.

He could see perfectly fine through the one sided viewing glass. He watched bemusedly as their youngest Captain helped get the Uchiha to sit up and acclimate back to reality.

"His condition?" He asked evenly from behind the plain neko mask.

"Chakra depletion." The ANBU spared a glance to the recovering Uchiha.

"He seems slightly delirious as well." He observed the Uchiha's muttering and hooded gaze. "How did he fare during the illusion?"

"Anxiety primarily, his breathing and heart rate were concerning." The ANBU informed him lightly.

"Che, anyone would have anxiety if Ibiki was standing over them for nearly a day straight." A rough feminine voice cut in.

The door from the interrogation room opened and in came the bear of a sadist himself. Morino Ibiki's marred features were crumpled in the most displeasing fashion as he stalked through the small dark viewing room.

"So what it is it, Ibiki?" Anko chimed in again.

The interrogator stopped in his heavy gait to gaze at the one who addressed him. "He's shaken but he'll live." He stated callously.

"I heard him screaming earlier, I thought you sedated him?" Anko chastised.

"We did, _lightly_."

"So did he pass?" Anko seemed anxious.

The hooded man nodded silently. "He did see through the illusion, however his decision was not in our favor."

"He would doom us all for the sake of his comrades." Ibiki argued.

"An admirable quality, to stand one's ground despite the aspect of certain death. Hai, he did doom us but truly his wish was to be one sacrificed rather than his friends. This trait seems prevalent in only the elite…"

"First Commander-"

The hooded man held up a hand to silence him. "This quality is one to be admired and strived for, it took a very honorable man to die to show me that…"

A long silence settled in before he finished.

"I would hope Hatake Sakumo's death did teach us all a valuable lesson."

XxX

"Sit up…easy or you're going to pass out- easy I said!" Kagome hissed at Sasuke's stubbornness as he began to stand. She pulled him back down by his night shirt.

Sasuke sat back down on the metal cot, every limb in his body prickled and every muscle ached in the most unnatural way. He let his back compress with the whitewash walls and his eyes fall onto the single black window that gave him a distorted reflection. He felt Kagome sit beside him, facing him with huge anomalous eyes that simply stared at him with the light of an apologetic puppy.

He felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Sasuke…" Her voice was numb. "Listen, you can be mad but do know that the First Captain of Central Unit is watching you and determining whe-" Her words stopped in her throat by his Sasuke's near comatose expression and lifeless voice.

"You made me kill you."

"Your resolve was so strong, Ibiki forced me…" Never had she sounded like a little girl, but at this moment her voice became just as whiny and as irritating as the others. Her words faded as she saw no expression from him. "…he wanted me to have them all killed in front of you. To have Itachi come in and drag you away and you watch helplessly as we all were butchered." Her tone became lower, reserved, familiar and venomous.

"But you refused for Naruto to die and my brother to be involved in it."

"Both would have sent you over into a state of shock, your vitals were already erratic from your anxiety." She informed as she tugged hopelessly on his shirt sleeve. "My death would have not been as traumatic as the others, you would have been able to recover and regain your resolve."

Sasuke said nothing for a long while.

Kagome felt his arm shift, she let go of his sleeve and watched as his dark eyes blankly stared at his palm.

_Naruto._

_Sakura._

_Kakashi._

"_They_… have all come close to death, to the point where I knew they would never get up…" He turned to her slowly and she could only stare into dull obsidian. He spoke with such muted vehemence, he shook. "…but I have _never _once shed a tear…" She felt something tight on her shoulders and she knew it was his hands and they were crushing her but it didn't hurt because at that moment, she couldn't feel a thing. "But when you…" When you were there on my blade.

He leaned in close, she felt his bangs on her cheeks, heard his harsh breath.

It was such a terrible thing to hear what he said next.

"I _screamed_…"

XxX

It had been a parasitic Genjutsu.

That is how they described it to him.

It was parasitic in how it leeched off his own chakra reserves to sustain the illusion and then was guided by Kagome's chakra. His own subconscious fueled the baser elements of the Genjutsu while Kagome took control of the illusion's reactions.

That is where the flaws were.

Open for him to decipher and grasp onto so he could eventually tear through the illusion with a simple breathless, _Kai._

Those three weeks had never happened.

No time had passed in the Genjutsu that hadn't passed in reality. His body was susceptible to it and thus believed everything it was _told._

He was _told he _had been in ANBU for three weeks,to be on the run for nearly thirteen hours, he was _told_ he had barely any chakra left and was close to collapsing with the enemy on his heels.

Everything had been an illusion, for so much time to pass in a Genjutsu and not occur in reality would be-

"…_impossible."_ Explained the hooded man. "As such, you being highly susceptible to Genjutsu created a natural weakness to it and thus, that was your test."

Sasuke nodded as he stood before the presiding Captain of all ANBU. His cloak was much like Kagome's, except his was much more worn and took on a canvas color instead of a pristine white. His mask was plain and not heavily endowed with paint nor was his tone arrogant. This man knew of his capabilities and didn't need to boast about them. "You mean my Sharingan." He suggested deeply, his hand was still in the firm grip of Kagome, who hadn't said a word since they had exited the small white room; she just simply trotted by his side like that of a lost pup.

"Hai, your Kekkei Genkai is very susceptible to Genjutsu, either creating a weakness like one we just witnessed or a strength that can be mastered as we have seen… exemplified in your brother." This man was unbiased, but it still grated him in the most irritating fashion.

"You've been studying me… to exploit my weaknesses." He stated apathetically as Kagome shuffled closer to his thigh.

"Exploit…" The Captain let the word roll over his tongue. "No, this is a teaching process. To show you how you may improve. You are a shinobi of caliber, Uchiha Sasuke, but even the most immaculate shinobi have their flaws. Do not let pride blind you, for in order to be in ANBU you must have your _eyes _open and ready."

"You speak as if I have already been chosen to be ANBU." Sasuke felt Kagome's hand tighten.

The Captain chuckled lightly. "We have been… _observing._ We choose candidates, observe from afar and when we feel it is right, an observing ANBU will _recommend_ that… it is time."

"How long?" His voice was bit too sharp.

"Since you passed the Chunin Exams, you and the Hyuuga were both selected." The hooded Captain motioned with his hand to Kagome, who was by his side, practically swimming in her cloak, holding his hand and a mask in the other. "Higurashi-taicho took it upon herself to inform us that _it was time_ for both of you."

Sasuke nodded heavily once more. He knew what this meant, it meant that they had been testing him for years…

He sighed. Really, it wasn't that surprising.

"Are there any others?"

The Captain stilled. "Others… others of your… _group_ who have been selected?"

Sasuke nodded stiffly.

"Ah, yes… there are a few others. Though either they are not ready, they choose not to be, or they have certain… limitations."

"Jinchuuriki are usually not permitted to be ANBU." Kagome sufficed quietly.

"And yet, Suna has one as a Kage." Mitarashi Anko walked into the dimly lit viewing room. She wiped a suspicious smear off her face with a smirk. "Guess who just their ass beat?" She pealed cheerily.

Sasuke turned around to see Anko duck out of the small doorframe only to be followed by a large man who was carrying- Sasuke squinted. –Neji by the scruff of the neck.

Said large man was…

"Yo."

"Shisui." Kagome seemed to have found her voice. "Let him go." She ordered sharply.

Shunshin no Shisui smirked and then proceeded to drop the Hyuuga to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Sasuke sighed for umpteenth time; he just wasn't going to get a break today.

Kagome promptly dropped his hand just as coldly and scurried over to the Hyuuga. She glared with the fury of pissed off kitten at Shisui, who merely ran a hand idly through his spiky hair. "Well good evening to you to, Chibi." He snubbed.

"Chibi?" Anko raised a brow.

Shisui pointed _discreetly_ to the petite ANBU who was now kneeling by the unconscious Hyuuga.

"Right…well, when you are all ready... and conscious, come see me. "Anko's eyes did a quick sweep of the room, setting Neji and Sasuke in her sights… with Kagome thrown in there. "You have… _paperwork."_ She finished with a smirk as if it would be torturous (which it probably would be), so for a sadist like Mitarashi Anko it was something to look forward to. "Ja ne." And Anko left just as swiftly as she had come.

"She's psychotic that one is…" Shisui murmured. "Pinky isn't as bad… but still bad."

Kagome scowled at him once again, Shisui seemed unharmed mostly, except for his usually mussed hair looking much more… _mussed._ There were only so few adjectives to describe that obnoxious mane.

Kagome's eyes then met an oblong bruise that was beginning to mar the Hyuuga's cheek. His face was obscured by a sleek curtain of brown save for the prominent cheekbone and split lips. His tattered haori pooled over his limp frame as she let her fingers, still numb from the hand sign being held for so long; idly push back a thick lock of hair.

She narrowed her eyes. His hair was ridiculously… _soft_. Kagome pursed her lips in thought and finally came to a solution.

Sasuke watched Kagome hover near Neji, with her cloak pooling around her and her mask discarded on the floor, the fool of a girl was utterly fascinated with the Hyuuga. He felt his brow crumple in annoyance until suddenly, Kagome… flicked him. _Hard._ Right on the forehead.

Sasuke felt his lips twitch; she was just so… _odd_ at times.

The Hyuuga remained stone cold. Kagome peered wide eyed up at Shisui who was staring back at her with the most unbecoming expression. "What happened?"

Shisui threw his hands behind his neck and leaned back slightly. "Well, the bastard was fast… but so am I, but that Byakugan can be a real bitch since… he can see _everything. _So I was trying to get in that blind spot behind him… but wouldn't you know it, that blind spot isn't really that big so I couldn't fit. So I just disabled his chakra network and bingo, his Gentle Fist went out like a light… which of course was promptly followed by an intense beating." Shisui grinned arrogantly. "Kid didn't stand a chance."

"Since Shisui is able to control the chakra flow of others with his Kekkei Genkai, it nullified the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist's capabilities." The Captain informed Sasuke who was still staring as Kagome pooled around the Hyuuga.

That was Neji's weakness; he relied too heavily on his Clan's techniques. He knew of Shisui's abilities enough to know that he could easily enough taken Neji out with his Gentle Fist, but this wasn't an exploitation it was lesson. A lesson they had better learn before ANBU.

Sasuke felt his shoulders set into a stern line. He was ANBU, but he didn't feel any sort of accomplishment. This was his goal, to be able to placed upon the same roster as his brother and surpass him. He should have felt his chest swell but instead it just left a hollow feeling thrum between his ribs. "What is next…?" He asked automatically, he needed a new objective to overcome this, he needed something to focus on.

Kagome's eyes drifted over to the hooded man behind him, her eyes were wary and unsure.

"Well… Mitarashi-san will inform you eventually but I better voice it now so there is no confusion on the matter." The First Captain's voice was soft but heavy were his words. "You three will form an independent squad. One that will solely report to the Hokage. Higurashi-taicho has already been informed of this as requested by your brother, Sasuke-san."

The only reply was Sasuke's vacant stare and Neji's unconscious face still planted into the linoleum. Kagome just avoided any eye contact as she fiddled with the frayed ends of her cloak.

"Now… will all three of you please join Mitarashi-san and Morino-taicho in the other room. There are a few matters to be taken care of." The hooded captain turned away from, showing his back to the three. "And… Neji-san, will you please get up."

A swift kick in the ribs by Shisui sent the Hyuuga groaning.

The Captain made his way for the door.

Kagome stood suddenly her eyes set into an icy shade of blue. "_Matte_… Taicho."

The man paused, as if he hadn't been walking at all. "Yes?" There was only a sliver of porcelain to be seen.

"Have you…" The words crumpled in her throat. "Have you heard anything more on Uchiha Itachi and his squadron...?"

"Hm… no." And the First Captain was already gone.

"…well he's blunt." Shisui snubbed as he looked down at the still face-planted Hyuuga. "Oi!" He nudged him with his toe. "What are you waiting for?"

"…for you… to leave…" Neji's nasally mumble was obscured from his nose being smashed against the tile.

"Oh no, you're all stuck with me!" And Shisui proceeded to drag the half-dead Hyuuga out of the room by the hair, with Sasuke beginning to follow behind.

He stopped beside Kagome, her eyes quivering in the dim light and her small frame seemed to shrink beneath his gaze. Her eyes never left the doorway as she picked up her small neko mask.

"Kagome…" What was the matter with her?

Her eyes flittered over to him, they were pale with anxiety as her words were trembling and thin. "…something's happened."

XxX

"Welcome to ANBU!"

Anko exclaimed as she slammed two thick stacks of papers with a thud. She winked at the Uchiha and Hyuuga sitting lifelessly in the metal chairs before her desk in her _office._ "You can go now, Shisui."

The gargantuan Uchiha leaning against the wall left without so much as a word and following in his wake was the pipsqueak of an ANBU.

"Ah ah, come back here kid." Anko called after the cloaked prodigy.

Kagome unconsciously outstretched a hand in Shisui's direction. He looked down at her with a helpless expression before tousling her hair in an apologetic fashion. It felt as if he was abandoning a helpless little kitten to the dogs.

Kagome watched Shisui's face crumple slightly; his hard features that were usually set in such a uplifting expression now seemed to waver into softer one. "Gomen ne, chibi… but you gotta stay here." And with one last smile Shunshin no Shisui flickered out sight.

Kagome could hear the hurried sifting of papers as Anko beckoned impatiently. Kagome ambled back with her bangs hooded over her eyes and limbs drooping lifelessly.

"Right right, now before we begin, I need you all to swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth or any other variation that deviates from the truth." Anko peered from the white back of a drooping paper. "Well swear it!" She goaded irritably as the three prestigious nin practically suffocated her with their cool apathy and overinflated egos.

Her only response was a simultaneous-

"_Hn." _

It was better than most. "Uh huh… well now that all three of you are under oath, I'm just gonna lay it on you on how I'm going to forgo policy."

"You mean by _not_ doing this interview separately." Kagome interjected, her experience was not lost on them.

Anko shrugged. "Heh, I'm lazy… so I would rather kill two birds with one stone."

"More like three." Kagome hissed.

Anko plopped down in her chair. "Right so since I'm going to be the bad guy here, might as well at least show you all some mercy and warn you… well you two-" She shot a pointed glance to the two sulking wannabe heirs. "-especially since lil miss kitty has already done this; that this interview will not have any restraints, so be prepared to answer some difficult questions."

Kagome's small hand gripped her neko mask a bit harsher. "This serves no purpose. I was already interviewed before I was inducted into ANBU."

"But then you were suspended and put on probation and Kami only knows what you have done in the mean time." Anko practically hummed her reasoning as if it was recited. "So as far as ANBU is concerned your data is outdated."

"I refuse to do this in front of my future teammates." Kagome's face crumpled into a furious expression.

"Well, since you are going to get know each other eventually might as well just get a jump start on things." Anko leaned back in her chair with heavy combat boot plopping themselves on her desk. "By the end of this you three will have so much dirt on each other…you'll be buried alive."

Anko watched as the seemingly comatose Uchiha and Hyuuga suddenly stiffened in their seats.

"Right so to start off…I choose…" Anko groped for a folder among the pile and opened it slowly, letting the suspense run its course. "…Uchiha Sasuke!" She exclaimed as her light brown eyes perused the text. "Ah, says here you have an inferiority complex, tell me what brought this on when you were a child?"

Sasuke let out a sharp breath but eventually answered the question with a firm reply. "My father."

"Ah, so your father must have compared you to your brother, now would it be safe to say your complex drove you to a certain level of rivalry?"

Sasuke dark limpid gaze was her only response.

"Is your rivalry focused solely on just your brother?"

Neji let out an indignant snort at that.

"Who else have you felt jealousy towards?" Anko's questions were detached as she smirked at whatever she was reading in his profile.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, since when did he ever say he was jealous of Neji or anyone for that matter?

"I move quick Uchiha, keep up." Anko crossed a boot over another on the desk. "Can you tell me why you're jealous of someone three years your junior?"

Sasuke blinked and then felt his shoulder set into a stern line of muscle and sinew. "What?" He clipped.

"You strive for not only your father's approval but also your brother's, you consider anyone a rival who threatens_ that_ and since lil' miss prodigy has caught the notice of both… you cannot belie the fact that you feel threatened." Anko smirked, she cornered him too easily. "So tell me, will you forgo the safety of your younger teammate to prove your worth to your brother?"

The Uchiha didn't move, nor did he even show the slightest nervous twitch as he stared back at her. But his eyes betrayed him as they burned with a ceaseless dark flame. "To even insinuate such a thing is insulting." His words were like venom out of clenched fangs.

"Protective are we?"

A small hand landed on the Uchiha's shoulder, Sasuke felt Kagome's reassuring grip tighten.

Anko observed the small gesture. Which of them she was referring to was lost on both of raven haired shinobi. "I'll take it we have little bond forming?"

Neji seemed to turn his head at this. Was this what TenTen was talking about, this bond between the two of them; that seemed to have taken root overnight?

"_Hm… I think she's cute and Sasuke seems to care about her greatly… like a little sister."_

It wasn't… cute.

The small girl standing behind Sasuke didn't miss much, her sharp eyes caught Neji's persistent peering and although she seemed unnerved by it he didn't miss the annoyance she exhumed between her pursed lips and swift flitter of blue.

He knew what this was for, he was a Hyuuga, he could see past more than mere objects but also through certain façades as well. This… Anko, he remembered from the Chuunin Exams, was put here to see what would compromise them as ANBU. This was no mere interview.

This was an interrogation.

The trouble was, there were countless ways to compromise a mission and he had a feeling that many of them would be unseemly to… voice.

"What is the nature of your relationship?" Anko's question was almost derogatory.

Really the two of them had to see that one coming.

But from the Uchiha's deathly stilled front and the small girl's steely glower, it still caught them both at odds.

Neji watched as the girl… Kami he was terrible with names, spoke tersely. "Our relationship is purely professional and to even insinuate such a _vulgar_ thing, Anko… is insulting." They mirrored each other in a sort of protective way.

Anko blinked slowly a coy smile etched itself onto her lips. "I insinuated nothing, but you are defending yourself quite frantically Kagome." Anko set down the folder, she seemed to have gotten to a subject she was pleased with. "Have you been accused of this before, the both of you?"

Neji felt something still in his chest and run cold in his veins. He knew the Uchiha was strange, a little off maybe…

It was just _**wrong.**_

Neji couldn't hide his shudder of disgust.

Again the small girl didn't miss anything as her pale blue eyes were clouding over in a silent storm. The warning was clear, if he said a thing the tension in the room would set them off.

Kagome nodded to Anko's questions. "Hai, the Uchiha believe that I am going to _beguile_ him in order to place myself within their Clan."

"Hn, pompous bastards…" Anko muttered. "Speaking of Clans, do any of you feel loyalty to your own respective Clans?"

A curt nod was from all three of them.

Neji leveled the girl with a stare. "I do not recall a Higurashi Clan." His voice was thin and sharp.

Kagome's eyes slid over to the Hyuuga. "I was adopted by Nara."

"Back on topic, kiddies." Anko waved them down. "If it was…oh I don't know… between the fate of the village and your respective Clans who would you choose?"

Neji was the first to respond. "If Konoha was destroyed then my Clan would be as well."

Kagome agreed with that with another nod.

Sasuke remained silent.

"Well, Uchiha? Who is it gonna' be your family or Konoha?"

Kagome felt something settle deep inside of Sasuke, a decision that was not his to make was made.

He spoke strongly; his voice resonated in her ears.

"Konoha."

Kagome closed her eyes, she knew it….

_He lied. _

XxX

"Damnit Naruto! Wait!"

But he didn't, he had been gone _way_ too long and damn it all to hell if he was going to wait another second!

He was an orange blur, bolting through the forest with enough speed to send a few ANBU in his direction. Naruto didn't wait for his feet to land on the branch long enough before pushing off again with a rush of Wind chakra. He wasted enough time away from Konoha and Kami only knows what had happened while the fox was away from his den.

He heard panting behind him, it was Akamaru slobbering and huffing in a fit of frustration and exhaustion combined. The inu-nin didn't appreciate this speed at such a great length and neither did his owner, who was vocalizing it all throughout the forest.

Kiba ran as well, there was no way Akamaru would be able to carry them both at this speed. "Naruto!" He hollered again as he clambered onto another branch. A moment later his other two teammates fell beside him, with Shino hunched over slightly and Hinata letting out short pants.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata huffed, her hand was placed on the bark of the tree as she watched the orange blur get smaller and smaller. "We need rest…" She was reluctant to admit it but they were tired.

Kiba growled. "Naruto! I'm going to report this as fucking abandonment!" His voice carried throughout the expanse of the forest impressively.

Two steely blue eyes popped in front of him. "Oi!"

Kiba staggered back at the sudden closeness of the blonde jinchuuriki. "The hell is wrong with you?" Kiba demanded. "You can't just go bolting off after the mission is done and have us chasing after you for a day straight!"

"Heh…" Naruto scratched the back of his neck in awkwardly. "Gomen ne, Kiba but we're just…_ so_ close."

"It's almost nightfall and we're exhausted, so let's make camp and make it to Konoha early tomorrow."

Naruto's face fell. "You do that." And he turned around to be back on his journey.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

Naruto stopped mid step. He turned hesitantly to the Hyuuga heir, her opalescent gaze was hopeful as she smashed her fingers together in her usual nervous tick.

"Yeah Hinata?"

"I-Is there a r-reason why?"

"Why what?" Confusion matted his face.

"Why the fuck you're in such a hurry?" Kiba interjected again.

Something darkened over Naruto's face.

It was how the red light of the sun caught his features and made his eyes seem like dark hollow sockets and his skin gleam like fresh blood that unnerved Team eight the most.

Akamaru took one whiff of the adolescent and felt his hackles rise. Something was wrong with this boy, he usually smelled of copper and smoke on the wind, but now he smelled of _fur._ Fur of something, like a rabbit and wolf together. Quick as a hare but with lupine brutality.

Something snapped the boy out of a daze. "Listen I just…. need to get back to Konoha, Sasuke is the only one there…"

All eyes were on Naruto, whose hair was tinted carmine from the sun. His words were incoherent and didn't make much sense.

"Whatever, but you owe us a round of drinks when we get back." Kiba conceded. Spending the night with a mumbling Jinchuuriki probably wasn't the best idea. He let a hand fall on Akamaru's head, he knew his companion could smell it as well. The shift in Naruto's scent was concerning.

Naruto turned his back to them and took off into the streaking red light of the sun without so much as a word.

Shino's gaze held the Jinchuuriki warily. The Aburame could sense something was off, but wasn't able to identify it.

Kiba knew it.

It was the subtlety of the musk, underlying the thick scent of earth and fur that showed him its true origin. It was faint, but he could sense it.

This distinct scent.

"Let's go."

_Of fox. _

XxX

"Alright… we've covered loyalty, moral dispositions, political views, social aptitude, medical history, filial duties…" Anko's voice chorused the various subjects she had probed and prodded for countless hours to get a firm grip on just how well the newest ANBU would interact with their positions.

She smirked, all three were beyond exhausted. Interviewing was a delicate process, data needed to be gathered on each of the candidates to make sure that they were fit for duty. It took place strictly after the testing process in which the candidates were already running low on stamina and thus much more open, making the truth all the more perceptible.

Though, the fact that Kagome was sprawled on the floor with the Uchiha sitting darkly in the corner after his irritable pacing episode was quite comical especially since Neji was now doing the same.

The Hyuuga stalked to and fro with the gait of a caged wild cat. His sleeping haori was miffed and torn and practically dripping off his chest.

Anko, for what she was worth, was able to appreciate the view of a well sculpted chest, a nice view of a strong collarbone had always struck a chord with her. She licked her lips. The Uchiha was a bit of a stick in the mud with his little prodigy around. From what she had gathered from the two of them, which had been quite a bit, they were attached in a very interesting way. It was almost as if it was a last resort, to find solace when a certain _someone_ was away.

She would had never had thought Uchiha Itachi would have taken interest in anyone, least of all this girl. From what Ibiki had told her it was his little brother that was important him, no one else mattered. Of course there was no sentimentality in his words but rather concern as how the Uchiha heir would react the moment his precious little brother reached ANBU.

That moment was now and as Anko stared at the small girl gazing up at the ceiling as if they were the stars, the pieces fell into place.

Who better to trust with his brother's life than a girl still untainted by the ways of ANBU but experienced enough in them to protect his little brother?

Really, all that restructuring the Uchiha had claimed for practicality's sake was all just a façade.

"Alright, we're almost done…"

Neji's footfalls ceased with his insipid gaze locking onto the pseudo interrogator. "Are we?" He was quite ready to be done with this whole affair.

" I said almost, now I need to know some more _personal_ information."

How could this get any more personal? Neji's pale eyes narrowed.

"What is your sexual orientation?"

He stood corrected.

Kagome sighed. "Same answer as last time…"

Anko wrote something down and let her eyes befall the Uchiha sitting with a knee propped and arm draped over it in the corner. "Well?"

Sasuke's face crumpled in disgust. "I've _never_ been attracted to another male if that is what you are asking?"

"That is what I am asking and what about you Neji?"

The Hyuuga shuddered. "Never." Neji stood a bit taller as he locked eyes with Anko. "How is this information pertinent?" He demanded with an affirmative sharp voice.

"Oh it just tells me that your_ one_ female teammate is at risk."

Neji's jaw actually fell agape slightly.

Kagome rolled her eyes and then eventually settled on closing them. She really had no desire to witness Sasuke's expression.

"Now, due to your age difference, Kagome is considered a minor while you two are adults. Any misbehavior will be heavily punished through both the Hokage and the First Commander."

Neji ran a pale hand through his hair chestnut hair achingly, really this was just ridiculous.

"Then again, if one of you is lying and simply just waiting to ravage the other than I can't really stop you there… it's just frowned upon, especially on a mission." Anko let out a laugh that sounded a lot like a cackle. "Geez, everyone stop glaring at me like that… it was just a joke…" Her smiled quickly faded. "But seriously, if one of you has concerns it would be wise to voice them now."

"Hai." Neji's pale palm raised languidly. "I do not feel secure around my teammate, Uchiha Sasuke due to his past history."

"History?" Kagome sat up at this and shot a confused glance at the accused.

Sasuke's head was leaning against the wall, with his throat fully exposed, he let the back of his skull bang against the wall with small resounding thuds.

"I want to know this to!" Hollered Anko, over to the apathetic teen banging his head against the wall.

Neji continued. "Three years prior, I heard of the incident which pertained to my teammate and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh yeah…" Anko remembered hearing about that. "…that was when you two made out, ne?" Well, everyone said they did but in reality it was an elongated peck to which Iruka swore was an accident, nevertheless it was something to note. "Subject 012606, Uchiha Sasuke exhibits homosexual tendencies."

"How many people are going to see this file?" Neji murmured.

Anko smirked as she laced her fingers together. "_Anyone_ who requests it." She purred.

The Hyuuga crossed his arms and smirked.

"Neji…" He heard Sasuke's deep voice annunciate his name very slowly. "You'll regret that."

"Don't kill him yet, Uchiha." Anko warned as she dug through her metal filing cabinet. "You two have to sign some forms."

Kagome perked up at that. "I don't remember this." She snapped and was peering over Anko's shoulder before anyone could blink.

Anko waved off the small ANBU. "That's because you don't carry a _Kekkei Genkai_."

Kagome's shadowed eyes perused over the contents blithely before feeling a smirk pull at her lips.

"I know it's funny, but they have to sign." Anko flipped through the pages and gestured for the two rookies to sign.

Neji approached while Sasuke remained in a comatose like state.

"Get out of your emo corner and sign, Uchiha." Anko snapped again, Kami this boy was a pain.

Sasuke was already there, looming with a dark expression on his face.

Kagome sent a swift jab to the ribs with her elbow.

Anko watched as each of them signed their own set of papers with archaic kanji and concluded with a swab of blood from a bitten thumb.

Kagome wrinkled her nose as she ran a hand through her tousled bangs. "Did you even hesitate to read it?"

Sasuke's eyes dulled, really he'd been here for hours… he'd sign away his soul if he could just go take a shower. All he knew was Kagome was pulling on him insistently and the crazed woman was rambling on while eyeing Neji in the most obscene way.

Every fiber of him wanted to leave; he could feel exhaustion pulling on his chest, threatening to pull him into the ground.

"Just so you two understand, you both carry a very coveted Kekkei Genkai any _extracurricular activities_ out of country are strictly prohibited… basically if some Iwa girl gets knocked up and has some freaky eyed kid… well things are gonna' get messy." Anko gathered up her papers into a neat. "Right well, we'll all be in touch."

Sasuke looked up blankly. They could leave, just like that?

"I have some more questions I should ask… but they're boring, so I'll just let you three go and answer them for you."

Kagome raised a brow. "What is so predictable of us that you can answer yourself?"

"Well… let's see… are you all virgins?"

Kagome was already being dragged out the door.

Anko smirked. "Thought so."

XxX

"We'll be in touch." Insipid eyes blinked at the two raven haired shinobi in front of him.

Really, this girl was supposed to be his Captain and yet _Uchiha_ had to carry her on his back as if she was a tuckered out toddler.

It was beyond late. So much so that he swore the horizon was bluing in the east and Neji had never felt so drained in his life, both physically and mentally.

Neji watched as Kagome's cheeks fatted up as she squished her face against Sasuke's neck. Her eyes fluttered in a sleepy fashion as she let out a petite yawn. She nodded at him in approval, before her eyes finally slipped closed.

Not…_cute._

This had become quite the mantra as of late.

Sasuke was still watching him stoically but his eyes were dulled and beyond worn.

Smart retorts could wait, they all three needed some sleep. And with that Neji nodded and walked steadily away towards the Hyuuga District.

Once the departing white back of Neji turned the corner, Sasuke shifted his grip on Kagome's legs intentionally.

She grunted in disapproval at the sudden movement. "What?" She mumbled irritably.

So much for being an insomniac. "Why did you recommend Hyuuga?"

No response.

"Kagome…" Feigning sleep wasn't going to work on him, he jolted her again and she mumbled something that didn't sound very ladylike.

A labored and exasperated sigh was heaved from her chest. "I did it for you, baka…"

Sasuke stilled for a moment. Neji was his rival (one of many perhaps), it would have been satisfying to enter ANBU while he stood no chance of recommendation, but the fact was, that was only momentary and he much rather preferred the Hyuuga in the ranks as a driving force to improve rather than a jealous spectator.

"Hn." He smirked and to think, he actually felt a little put out when he had seen Neji lying on the sand floor of the arena.

"Can we go now?" Her voice was muffled by his shirt.

Sasuke was mid step before he felt Kagome's small body stiffen. He stilled.

"You better run unless you want to cause a scene." She warned suddenly, her voice was still miffed but her head was up and the way she leaned, it felt as if she was looking very intently behind him.

"Why?" Sasuke's tone implied he wanted absolutely _nothing _to do with running at the moment.

"Because Naruto is right behind you."

And that's when a shout so loud and obnoxious broke out from a little orange dot in the distance and resounded to the very far reaches of Konoha and practically woke up every resident.

"KAGOME!"

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** Blah! The manga! Silly Sakura-chan, thinking she can take Sasuke with a kunai… and anyone liking his maniacal laughter… I did.

**Author's Note:** Heh, so who seriously expected Deidara…?

**Next Chapter:** Drunken escapades never end well, especially when you wake up in the most compromising of positions.

Might want to take a gander on what's below. Notice how the _bigger _numbers have a sooner date…oooh ahhh.

* * *

_Update Schedule_

* * *

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

45+ = _Sunday_, **February 28 **(4 days)

35+= _Wednesday_, **March 10 **(two weeks)

20+= _Wednesday_, **March 17 **(three weeks)

10+= _Wednesday_, **April 28 **(two months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

I stop counting after about 72 hours. The update date will be posted on my profile this Saturday, February 27 around evening time. ~KK


	10. The Ever Spilling Cup

**Author's Note:**Many have asked about the format of the chapters, well it goes with a flashback 6 months prior to the storyline and then starts off with the current chapter. So sorry for the confusion. If any of you are still lost, then please look back on the last couple of chapters to get caught up with the flashbacks or PM me please. They are as much a part of the storyline as the present day chapters. ~KK

**Parings:** Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome

**Side Parings:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

_Flashback Time!_

* * *

_**6 months prior…**_

_Name's Deidara… mind telling me your name, hm?"_

The blonde chuckled lightly as he let his palm outstretch in her direction.

Kagome's head quirked at the small thing fluttering in the man's palm. She felt her lips part in a gape. _"Who are you?"_

"I just asked your name, yeah."

Kagome sat there and let out a tongue curling yawn as her response.

Deidara ran a hand through his long hair irritably. Now, that she was awake and out of battle, she looked… so _young._

A moment passed and Kagome could still see the strange man's eyes still locked intently onto her. She sighed, her mind came up with the first name that came to mind. "Kikyo… Higurashi Kikyo." Her surname was pretty unexciting but she couldn't exactly keep her full name in a covert mission.

Those fierce blue eyes pierced her, scrutinized her and finally a smile curved Deidara's lips. "Heh, pretty name…" He mused as the fluttering bird-like creature took flight and landed before her. "Well Kikyo-san, can you tell me why you were so desperate to get into this country, hm?"

"I'm a missing-nin." She answered levelly, her finger's grazed the bird-like creatures left wing. It nudged her in a odd affectionate way.

"From Konoha, yeah?" He was eyeing her again, it was probably a mistake to state her wanted status so early, that is, if she actually was being sought after. Which was the farthest thing from the truth at this moment. If anything, Konoha would deny her existence along with her mission's to prevent a flustered Kaminari no Kuni going to war due to her _interference_ with their affairs.

There was no denying her origin now, this man was far too dangerous to lie to so readily. But Kami, he figured her out fast. "How did you know I was from Konoha?" She snapped, she could play the oversensitive _the-world is against-me_ preteen missing-nin any day.

"Your accent, yeah." He told her lightly, then his eyes drifted to the downpour of rain outside of the cave, apparently she had been missing some common knowledge.

"I have an accent?" She pressed. Really, just annoy him, play ignorant and he'll be on his way.

His eyes flashed with annoyance. "Aa…" He drawled.

Really, she hadn't noticed. "At least I don't have a speech impediment." She shot back.

Deidara rolled his eyes, obviously he wasn't going to indulge the snot nosed preteen she was pretending to be.

"Why did you save me?" She asked seriously, she was genuinely curious.

The sound of rain was the only thing she heard for a long while until she caught a glimmer of steely blue behind that curtain of blonde. Deidara spoke indifferently. "You have something… fading in you, yeah." He ran a hand through his long bangs, his golden hair was completely unbound. "It's fleeting, it's in your eyes… it won't last very much longer." He was obviously struggling for words.

"Excuse me?" She sputtered out. It was like he was telling her, she was dying. "What is _fading _in me?" She asked incredulously.

Deidara smiled somewhat bitterly for such a jovial face. "Can't quite place it, yeah. Just like how you can't tell if I'm the good guy or bad guy, hm?"

_True._ "Well then, better be safe than sorry." She began to get up, despite the severe pressure throbbing in her temples and the sharp pain in her ribs.

"Matte, Kikyo-san!" Deidara hissed. "You'll undo all my hard work, yeah." And he was before her in a flash and was keeping her down with a well placed hand to her uninjured shoulder.

The fire danced in those sharp eyes of his as he was searching hers for something. "Why did you leave Konoha, yeah?" He asked lowly, she could feel his breath on her neck.

She swallowed hard. "I was in _Root."_ She could work with this, few even knew about the existence of Root. She looked into it once and only found dead ends. Danzo, the presumable leader of this underground ANBU squad, was good at covering his tracks. It was the conspiracy theory of choice in ANBU, it wasn't exactly illegal to form something of this caliber but there was never any evidence to prove of its existence either. Truly, this Deidara would be thrown by this shred of_ coveted_ intel.

"I've heard of that." He responded casually with eyes focused on her bound shoulder as he retied the ending knots. "It's that covert group that Konoha is too foolish to get rid of… the one with all the emotionless kids, yeah?"

She reclaimed her composure. So much for coveted information… "Aa, though my emotional _purging _didn't go quite as planned." Yeah, she could play this part pretty well.

"So you left, couldn't handle doing Konoha's dirty work, hm?" Deidara supplemented coldly.

She paused, Root was suspected to do the awful things the Hokage couldn't stomach to assign, this probably just confirmed that theory. "I left to keep my dignity." She gritted out.

"Either you're noble or a coward." Deidara leaned back, the fire casting flickering shadows over his dark expression only made his gleaming blue eyes stick out even more. "Either way, it doesn't matter to me, yeah."

She said nothing to that. He obviously noticed that she hadn't killed any of those Kaminari ANBU earlier. And to be honest, she didn't know what she was either.

"So, where to after this, hm?" He gestured to the downpour at the mouth of the cave.

Kagome blinked. _I thank you and we part ways…_ she thought hopefully.

Deidara read her like a book. "Saa, Kikyo-san it seems you don't realize who I am…" His voice took on an air of condescension.

"A missing-nin?" She drawled.

"A highly trained pyrotechnics coordinator, yeah." He shot her a gleaming smile.

"_Fireworks?" _Kagome wrinkled her nose.

"Is that what it means…?" Deidara muttered under his breath as he thought over his title. He cursed and then finally said. "I'm a hired bomber, yeah."

"You're a terrorist."

Deidara shot her a mock glare and then conceded slightly. "Call me whatever, Kikyo-san, just now I'm artist."

Kagome rolled her eyes. Of all the missing-nins out there, she had to be stuck with the crazy one. "I won't be calling you anything, because we are going to be parting ways soon." She snubbed.

"That's what you think." An arm slung around her slim shoulder frame and she winced at the sudden pressure. "We nuke-nin have to stick together, yeah."

Kagome blanched.

* * *

_**-Chapter Ten-**_

_The Ever Spilling Cup_

* * *

_**Present…**_

"_You better run unless you want to cause a scene." _

"_Why?" _

"_Because Naruto is right behind you." _

"_KAGOME!"_

Sasuke felt Kagome wince as window lights started to flicker on throughout the streets and dogs started to howl. Sasuke merely closed his eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

Which honestly wasn't enough, for Naruto was before them in a flash of orange that was too bright even at night.

The blonde skidded to a stop, gravel scratched under his sandals as a huge grin was plastered over his face. His eyes were squeezed shut as whiskered cheeks spread themselves from ear to ear to reveal gleaming teeth.

Sasuke closed his eyes; even now his idiot of a friend was practically overflowing with energy. This was the last thing he needed. "Dobe…" Kami, he was so fucking tired…

Naruto however paid him no attention as something else caught his gleaming blue gaze. Now _this_ was the very last thing he needed.

Kagome was not only pulled from his grasp, but she _practically_ leaped off of him to hang off of the dobe's neck.

The idiot's grin got even wider as he began to spin with his hands locked securely on Kagome's forearms while her legs swung out as Naruto spun and spun.

Now this was hyper, even for _him._

"We're going to get ramen and have rice balls every morning and then-"

And Kagome's eyes were crinkled as she shot Naruto a tightlipped cheeky grin that made her seem like she was enjoying the dobe's overreaction.

"…go break into teme's private lake and-"

They'd better not.

"…on top of the Hokage rock and Sakura can make lunch and then we can drug Shisui-"

"…dobe…" Shut up. _Shut up._ _**Shut up.**_

"…he'll be bald and everyone will be laughing at how small his-" Naruto's movements ceased when he felt a hand strike out against his shoulder and felt Kagome whipped out of his grip.

Kagome staggered back at the sudden lack of support.

Naruto looked up with a questioning stare. "You okay, teme? You look pale." Naruto leaned in to scrutinize the Uchiha's face, which simply fell into an even more intense glower. "Well glad to see you too, bastard." Naruto looked down at Kagome. "Ne, Kagome-chan what's up with you guys, you both look half dead." The blonde Jinchuuriki eyed the petite ANBU as she swayed limply, it looked like she was about to topple over.

Kagome blinked sleepily. "We're… tired." She yawned.

"Why? What you guys stop training just now?" He asked incredulously, yeah he trained until dawn sometimes but it wasn't healthy for her to do such extreme conditioning.

Sasuke was able to muster up the energy for just one more arrogant remark. "The examinations are over, dobe."

"_Exams_… you mean-"

"Sasuke is now ANBU." Kagom sufficed numbly. Really, she was happy to see him, yes actually she was _quite_ happy, and it'd been a relief to see Naruto bounding towards her without so much as a scratch. She could only hope the same would be for Itachi…

And now Sasuke was ANBU, her job was over. She no longer had anymore obligations to Team 7.

Naruto stood there. His face fell and his eyes seemed clouded.

Silence filled the night air between the three as they stood in the darkness.

That is, until the distinct sound of running feet caught their ears, followed by a howling yell-

"_You bastard!"_

And then Naruto was tackled to the ground.

* * *

_Fox._

That is what the whiskered-boy smelled like to him. Akamaru let his mouth hang open and let the scent of it roll over his tongue.

Yes, definitely fox.

His human had noticed it sooner, it seemed that the scent had become stronger and so did the whisker-boy's stamina. Really, they had ran another full night. He could smell the dew settling as well as hear the flutter of morning birds. Dawn was on their heels and no one of his human's pack would rest until they reached their territory.

Akamaru bounded next to Kiba silently, save for a few huffed pants. Kiba glanced down at his clearly winded companion. "We're almost there." He reassured his team also.

Shino and Hinata were strong though, when they felt weakness approaching, he could feel their silent vows to keep on moving. His team wasn't the most powerful, but they were a force to be reckoned with just sheer willpower alone.

Past the alleyways and backstreets they finally caught up to the frustratingly orange clad Jounin that was about to get his ass beat for running them halfway across the country in two days time.

Kiba gritted his fangs and lunged at Naruto with a snarl. _"You bastard!" _

He really hadn't expected the idiot to go down so easily…or so _hard. _

But he did and now Naruto was snarling back and retaliated with a solid punch.

Which only grazed Kiba's fanged cheek, but it still hurt like a _bitch._

Kiba jumped off as he wiped a rivulet of blood from the corner of his mouth. Maybe now wasn't the best time to test the idiot.

He seemed _feral._

Kiba's gaze slid over to his dog-nin who was staring quite intently on what appeared to be a _midget _standing next to the bastard of an Uchiha.

"_Yo."_ He gave a smirk that glinted with a single fang.

Kagome gaped, at what was obviously an Inuzuka who has just sprung out of nowhere and onto Naruto. Behind him was a kunoichi resembling a Hyuuga and a hooded boy who took on the distinct look of an Aburame.

And then there was a dog. _Staring_ at her.

She _hated_ dogs.

Kagome's brow furrowed.

Akamaru tilted his head at the small human, she was just a pup. But her eyes were like iron and glass at the same time. She smelled sweet though, cold too. The pup smelled of sugar and fresh rain, but something else marked her. Something that wasn't hers. The darker boy, the one his human didn't like, the one with blood in his eyes, the one who smelled of scorched steel, lightning and salt. His scent contradicted the delicate sweet rain of the pup standing next him. Her scent though, was beyond _something_, for she smelled of ice.

The gargantuan dog walked closer to her, stared straight into her eyes and then…

Kiba gawked at how his dog-nin submitted fully by laying straight on his back with belly exposed to the girl.

Kagome wrinkled her nose before turning away. She felt Sasuke fall into step with her.

What a strange dog.

She was way too exhausted to deal with this.

"Oi! Wait up!" Naruto hollered.

Kagome heard him in the distance. Really, she would spend time with him later but she was deathly tired right now.

"Oh no, you don't! You're coming to report in with us!" She heard the Inuzuka snarl and there was barking from his dog-nin which was soon followed by the sound of gravel scratching as if something was being dragged.

Naruto's calls became more frantic but all the more distant.

She walked dazedly beside the silent Uchiha; their path slowly leading them closer towards the Compound along with the prospect of a _bed._ "Kami, I'm tired…"

Her intention was clear, she left herself open for him to refuse her and let her go to her own meager dwelling for the night. But he wouldn't abandon her.

So he conceded and let the cat follow him home.

"Aa."

* * *

For being so tired, Kagome thought irritably, she was sure having trouble falling asleep.

Something just wasn't settling, not even with the morning light beginning to trickle in and especially not with her insides beginning to churn and twist. Kagome let her eyes focus in on her hand, palm up and fingers outstretched, she let them fist and unravel in a tedious pattern.

Her hands were beyond sore, they felt bruised but remained unmarked. She clenched them into another small fist. Curling her fingers, Kagome could feel the dull pain heighten and stretch out into the heel of palm.

Holding that _particular_ hand sign for seventeen hours, as well as managing the chakra flow of both Sasuke and her had caused a great deal of strain. She was surprised the skin hadn't split.

But her reddened hands were the least of her worries, she couldn't sleep and that most off all was irking her.

She was restless. She could feel it.

Ever since the First Commander informed her of how there had been no reports on Itachi's squadron, she couldn't shake the feeling.

_Something's happened…_

Yes, she believed that in some way, shape or form she possessed an intuition of some sort. And that inner sense she had been able to scrape together told her something was wrong.

She was sitting up before she let her thoughts wander through the possibilities. Bruised hands skimming the warm sheets and silk, her movements didn't disturb Sasuke.

She turned slightly, the outline of her cheek and the corner of her eye saw his bare back with jutting shoulder blades and undulating spine staring back at her. His breaths were heavy and deep, he was asleep before he'd even lain down, she assumed with a tinge of resentment.

Kagome let the pads of her feet fall to cool wood floors and with silk pulling on her waist she approached the door.

Her restlessness was pulling on her; even laying next to another warm body didn't help.

Sasuke wasn't…

She was in the hallway, the one that always seemed dark even during the day.

She felt disconnected.

She needed an anchor. If that made any sense.

She was in Itachi's room before she could blink.

And there it was, vacant and empty with ebbing blue shadows and brimming gold light.

She made a few steps; her footfalls were too loud for such a silent morning. Her eyes drank in the room; again his futon was neatly made up, with not a wrinkle in place while a bookshelf encompassed the wall adjacent to the barren writing desk.

She wandered over to the bookshelf, her eyes glazed over as she felt herself pulled to this spot. Books thin and thick with leather bindings and frayed fringes of paper stuck out to her. Itachi had scrolls as well, stuck between the spaces of the books in dusty clumps. But it was the books with some form of kanji she didn't recognize that caught her hooded blue gaze. A hiragana title followed a few with statements about history, hierarchy and bloodlines.

A thin layer of dust coated the majority of the ancient literature, Itachi was the heir to the Uchiha. He would have all of these sources at his disposal.

There was something here.

Something she must have missed when she had been here before and had ignored due to Itachi's demanding presence. She could feel it, alright. For in this mass of information there had to be _something…_

Kagome blinked; there was the slightest disturbance in the dust. Her eyes followed to meet an unmarked book, thin and tattered she grasped it and let it fall open in her palms.

The vellum was yellowed and frayed beyond years as it was handwritten, with sloppy hiragana that was swirled and smudged into almost illegible handwriting.

In her mind, she could hear the sharp and vehement whispers…

'_My palm has become fractured and splitting, no longer do I feel the silence, it is spreading as is the pain. In the sky, the stars rumble and the night whispers, for I feel the spider's weaving and I fear that the moon is breaking-'_

"Kagome."

The book fell from her grasp like a stone, it cluttered to the wooden floor, taking its frantic ramblings with it. Kagome's eyes once riveted to the book's ancient pages now held Sasuke's looming form in the doorway.

His eyes were half lidded and grayed almost with an weary irritability. A hand placed solidly on the doorframe propelled him forward toward her. He stared at the small girl, who was practically swimming in one of his nightshirts and was gazing up at him with most gaping expression.

"What were you doing?" He questioned her lowly.

His voice snapped her out of it. It felt as if the fog had cleared and she was suddenly standing in his brother's room.

Kagome remained rooted to the spot, something flitted across those shadowed blue depths right before she blinked harshly and responded. "Nothing." She murmured before pushing past him and stalking back to his bed.

Sasuke let his eyes rest on the slim book on the floor, its yellowed pages turned orange in the sunlight now, for it was only then he could see the clouded stains.

It was blood.

* * *

Her eyes snapped open.

Kagome's blue laden orbs flitted about the room suddenly. Late afternoon rays trickled in, yellowed and heavily shadowed, it was a few hours past noon.

She would have snapped up at the sudden loss of day, but that hope was dashed when she felt something heavy…

On her chest.

_And_ something, or rather _someone_, breathing in her ear.

Her eyes achingly looked over to see a very unconscious Sasuke breathing down her neck with his arm draped over and his hand intertwined with a few stray strands of her hair.

Her eyes widened while she felt her cheeks burn.

It was an awkward… _position_… but honestly that fact that his face was so utterly lax and he was so utterly oblivious right now, made it all the more intimate and…and…and..

AND!

She couldn't think properly right now!

Especially since he didn't have a shirt on…and the fact that he needed a shower was not helping matters.

She cleared her throat.

Sasuke remained comatose.

"Ahem…" That was a few decibels louder.

He shifted closer, his nose was now on her neck.

Some form of a sound bubbled through her throat, and if she had to describe it, it sounded like a mouse dying.

A grunt, or something to that effect rumbled from his chest and she could feel it… and for Kami's sake she never felt so small and awkward in her life!

And now she was trapped, held captive like a stuffed animal being swaddled by a possessive child…

Only this _child_ was a bit bigger, with a an arm that felt like lead and for Kami's sake, he was squishing her now!

"Sasuke!" She hissed right into his ear.

A single lidded obsidian orb slipped open, glazed and unfocused it peered at Kagome for but only a moment before Sasuke spoke very groggily.

"_Nii-san?"_

Kagome's eyes went hard into a stare. "Not quite, now get off me before you lose your arm." Her voice was no longer obscured into a whisper.

Sasuke snapped up in a flash, feigning awareness wasn't going to get him any points. He ran a hand languidly through his hair, all the way to the back of his scalp to the front. "…what…" His deep voice fell. "…what is the time of day?"

"Too late for ANBU to be sleeping." She replied briskly as she flat on the futon. "Sasuke?" She questioned too lightly, a smirk was pulling on her lips.

His eyes were the only thing to respond, other besides that his face was morbidly blank.

"Why did you confuse me with Itachi?" She asked wryly, really she was too amused with this.

Sasuke let out a labored sigh as his hand began to rub his temples in vexation.

Her smirk turned into a cheeky smile, why did she find it so amusing that Sasuke and Itachi had snuggled up together like two little brothers should? An image of a little Sasuke waddling over to Itachi's bed played into her mind. Really, it was just too much to pass up. "Ah… that's cute." She couldn't suppress her little laugh.

Sasuke already felt his neck turn red, she was giggling…

Wait.

Kagome, as in the spiteful little spitfire of an ANBU was _giggling._

It was at his expense no less, but the sound was bubbling from her throat in light sweet peals. Sasuke felt dumbfounded at this newfound sound, he had heard her laugh but it was usually derisive or condescending.

No, no this was natural. A natural and unrestrained… well not laugh but _giggle._

And just like that she stopped and began eyeing him warily, as if he might jump her or something to that effect.

"Why are you staring at me like that, Uchiha?" She snapped suddenly.

So much for making progress, but he couldn't help it, he was letting his lips lift into something he rarely did.

Kagome felt his hand land heavily on her head and tousle her already mussed hair about. She sent him a glare that looked like a pout before crossing her arms and ducking out of his reach. "This is odd." She muttered.

"What is?" His voice sounded richly amused right now. Glinting with smoldering obsidian, his eyes seemed to look past her.

"That no one has barged in on us yet…"

"Aa." She was right. It was late afternoon, surely nearly a half a day had passed and yet no Naruto, Sakura or even Shisui had come in barging. Not even his own mother had pestered him for breakfast.

Her large eyes fluttered curiously as she scuttled across his futon, she seemed a bit anxious. Kagome paused in front of a mirror, examined her face and scrutinized her neck which was obscured by his high collared shirt.

"We should report to the Hokage." She mused lightly as she began to gather her belongings.

He said nothing to that and slipped out of bed.

Kagome looked back when she felt Sasuke looming over her. She looked back with a heated glower and sharp retort. "What?"

His brows raised at her sudden sharpness, but otherwise he remained apathetic as his fingers pinched the fabric of his shirt and tugged. "I need this."

"Go get another one out of your closet." And she went back to making her combat pants _not_ inside out.

"I don't have any." He deadpanned deeply.

Kagome sighed, of course he would be backed up on laundry. "So you want me to take off my shirt _right now_?" She drawled as her fingers began to grip the hem.

Sasuke flicked the back of her head. "Dobe, there are smaller ones on the top shelf." And with that he was out of the room with the door shutting _solidly_ behind him.

Although he did hear some muttering, probably Kagome brewing from the slipup he made by her calling her that but otherwise it was quiet.

That is…

Until a small hand shot out and chucked his shirt directly at his face.

"Go take a shower, _dobe_!"

* * *

After a shower, a few more muttered insults and a quick getaway to avoid his mother, Sasuke and Kagome found themselves at the doorstep of none other than Uchiha Shisui.

The dusty afternoon sun beat on their backs as Sasuke rapped solidly on the door for the _third _time.

Behind him, he could hear Kagome sighing. "Is he even home?"

"Aa…" But he didn't have to tell her that, he could even tell by his cousin's large chakra signature that he was most definitely there and-

The door snapped open violently, threatening to snap off its hinges. "What?" A very scruffy, very irritable Shisui snapped. He hovered over them in the doorway and from the way he smelled to his bloodshot eyes, it became very obvious what was bothering the usually boisterous Uchiha.

"Can't a guy have a hangover in peace?" He snapped again, running a rough hand through his unbound hair which looked like a frazzled black mane that stuck up at all ends.

Ah, that explained the absence of any spontaneous interruptions.

Kagome let out a long drawn out sigh. "Why were drinking yourself into your own grave?" She asked tetchily. If Sasuke didn't know any better he would detect a hint of worry etching that strained tone of hers.

Shisui cracked a half smile. "Ah, Chibi I was celebrating."

"Celebrating what exactly?"

"_You guys!" _He exclaimed. "You're both ANBU now."

Sasuke repressed the urge to roll his eyes at his elder cousin's antics.

"So you drank yourself into a coma, without _us_?"

That stopped both of Uchiha. Sasuke looked back with a questioning stare and Shisui's smile seemed to get wider and wider.

"My bad, Chibs. You're absolutely right, I should have invited you to the little get together."

"That's not what I meant." She snapped. "Your excuses are just dodging around the subject that you don't have a superior to watch over you right now and so you're exploiting _his_ absence." She took a breath.

Sasuke watched the small girl, she was practically out of breath from getting worked up and even after all that sleep she still looked weary.

Shisui's smile faltered as he scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. He averted his eyes as he muttered something. "Some of us cope differently, Chibs."

Kagome stiffened. "If you're so worried about Itachi, then you should be doing something about it not drowning yourself in sake."

"Actually I didn't drink that much sa-Oi! Stop glaring I get it!" He seemed to cringe. "Now what did you two come over here for?"

Sasuke remained stoic as Kagome stepped forward with eyes hard. "I wanted you to go to the Communications Department and find out what's happening out there."

"You don't think I haven't tried, the Reconnaissance Unit is gone Chibi. Itachi trashed that division when he met you, their scattered now and _that _makes it more difficult to locate one-"

"You're making excuses again." She said solidly. "They dispersed their numbers for efficiency, Itachi knew that each department has its own need of personal reconnoiters. If anything, it's easier to get a hold of one and find out why they haven't heard anything from Itachi."

Something in Shisui's dark eyes crumpled. He finally gave in. "That's the problem, Chibs. They _have_ heard something and it's not good." His tone was solemn.

"What are you saying? The First Commander told me they've heard nothing."

"They'd _lied _to you, Chibi." His underlying message was clear, no one thought she could handle it.

"Then what have you heard?" She had to force the words out.

"It was an ambush… aimed at one target in particular."

Kagome's eyes widened as her face slacked into a pale blank expression. She felt her hands tremble and her body quake, until she felt a strong grasp land on her small shoulder. Sasuke's eyes were hard and unreadable but he wasn't going to lose it. She took a deep breath and looked back at Shisui. "When?" She asked, her voice cracked.

"I heard last night." Shisui gave her a thin smile, it all came together. "This was the first time he went on a mission this big without me…" He gave a sour laugh. "And look, now the bastard got himself kil-"

"Shisui." Sasuke's voice was threatening.

He snapped out of it. "Look Chibs, I'll look into it some more but…" He trailed off.

Sasuke nodded and pulled Kagome by the shoulder to turn away from Shisui's doorstep.

The sound of the door shutting followed after as Kagome treaded numbly beside Sasuke.

She was brewing, that much he could tell and right now, her little mind was processing every possible outcome and finding a solution to it. It seemed masochistic almost, but she was a genius, ANBU as well and she was beyond calculating.

"He's terrified." Sasuke voice broke her out of her tactical trance.

His hand was still placed on her thin shoulder, almost guiding her. Her anomalous eyes looked up at him. "I know… but all of our actions could be the difference of life and death." She whispered. "If he hesitates, Itachi might die…"

"You don't think he is dead already."

She shook her head, her eyes were closed as stark black hair brushed his knuckles. "I would know…"

He quirked his head at her, his eyes were so dark in the light of the sun. "How?" His voice was impossibly deep.

She shrugged. "I can sense life easily, I never told anyone this but I think it has to do with my family…"

"You never speak about them." Sasuke was looking on ahead, towards the Compound's gate.

"I know." She smiled softly, almost bitterly. "Because I _know_ most of them are dead."

He said nothing for a moment, but his grip tightened a fraction. "I can't imagine."

She shrugged away from him, breaking his hold. "No, you can't." her voice was not angry nor bitter, just solemn and hollow. She turned her back to him as she changed the subject. "The Hokage will be able to tell us something and then we can take action."

His empty hand fell to his side as he stared at the small girl, standing on the dusty road in the blistering sun. She seemed stark against it, as if she might wither. "What do you plan on doing?" He asked darkly.

"I plan on going after him."

* * *

_"Absolutely not."_

Tsunade's voice rang out impressively considering she was obviously engrossed in her paperwork. "There is no way in hell-" She stamped a paper violently. "-that I'm letting you go-" And stamped another one just as forcefully. "-to Kami only knows where to find that arrogant-" And another one. "-self-imposed, cocky-" And another one. "-bastard, who wouldn't know humility if it hit him upside that inflated head of his." And the table just cracked.

Kagome crossed her arms with her small brow furrowing into a murderous expression. Perhaps the time would be now to remind her that assassinating the Hokage was still very much a federal crime. Sasuke sighed.

"And what in Kami's name are you wearing?" Tsunade snapped with hard amber eyes scrutinizing Kagome's attire.

Kagome looked down at herself, she was only wearing Sasuke's old Genin clothes. Sure it had his Clan symbol plastered on the back but she'd thought blue was a nice color on her, maybe it was the white shorts…

Tsunade rubbed her temples. "Really, this has all got to stop…" She muttered to herself. "I'm having the worst possible day, any of you can imagine."

Kagome shuffled awkwardly on the balls of her feet. "Is there anything… we can do?" She suggested, she wasn't exactly known for her consideration of other's feelings.

"Just stay put for now, there's a leak in my ANBU and its costing us lives."

"A leak?"

Tsunade nodded. "Someone's been trying to target Itachi lately, someone who knows his roster and is most likely selling this information to the highest bidder." Her voice was grim, as she set aside a stack of papers. "Ibiki is working on it, as well as Shikamaru but I would like you to also keep an eye out Kagome. This is very disturbing news when I find my most skilled Shinobi a target of his own countrymen."

"How do you know I'm not the leak?"

"You were among the first we investigated, due to your recent affiliation with him and through your current knowledge, there is no way you would be able to target Itachi _yet._ You don't know his roster well enough nor do you have the connections to stage such a large scale ambush."

"Who are among the suspects now?" She asked tersely.

"ANBU mainly, we are doing this carefully Kagome. But I personally would like you to keep an eye on Shisui."

Sasuke stiffened and his eyes landed on Kagome, who simply nodded, it seemed she had already deduced this. "You said Shikamaru was also investigating?"

"He is one of my strategists." Tsunade said lightly. "And yes, Kagome. He was quite upset already with you…and now he seems…" She trailed off. "Well, he is merely concerned with your choice of company." She sent a pointed stare at Sasuke.

The door to her office suddenly burst open followed by a rather hoarse voice. "Shishou… more paperwork from ANBU."

Kagome watched as a tower of papers scuttled past, the looming stack obscured the person's face.

"And having a hung-over apprentice is not helping my day either." Tsunade informed them curtly as she sent Sakura a heated glare.

Sakura waved unenergetically at the two of them and sent them a weak smile. Her eyes were a pale jade, ringed with purple underneath and her mussed pink hair was not helping appearances either. She laughed nervously.

"Really?" Kagome accusation could be summed up in one word. Well, now she knew who accompanied Shisui on his lil' pity party drinking escapade.

Sakura laughed again and began to fiddle with her frayed ends of pink. "Heh…really…" She was not going to confess it in front of her shishou.

Sasuke actually rolled his eyes.

"You see?" Tsunade drawled, her eyes skimming another mountainous stack of paperwork. "Not only was I already drowning in all the formalities of dispersing the Reconnaissance Unit…which was at the fault of a certain_ someone,_ but now that certain _someone _has gone MIA and now I have to launch a full scale investigation… do you know how much paperwork I already have? And now I have _this_ on top of that!" Tsunade snapped and then let out a heaving sigh. "Ugh, I need a drink." She muttered as she pulled out a drawer in her desk to reveal a sake bottle and a saucer.

"Here Shishou, let me help you with that." Sakura volunteered as she scampered over to her Hokage's desk.

Tsunade held the bottle out of reach of her apprentice, just as bully would hold up a child's toy. "You're not curing that hangover with more drinking, Haruno. You're going sober for next month or I'll revoke your apprenticeship!"

Sakura let out a whine.

* * *

Walking out of the Hokage tower, Sasuke crossed his arms and walked silently beside his smaller counterpart. The sun was drooping in the west, casting a yellowed light that made shadows stretch and darken. Kagome was brewing once more; her thoughts were encompassing her as she ambled through the dusty streets of their village.

"Did you honestly suspect Shisui?" He questioned her suddenly; his voice snapped her out of her brewing.

"When I heard there was a leak?" She paused for a moment, her eyes were half-lidded and still in thought. "Yes…yes, I did."

He said nothing.

"He didn't do it, Sasuke." She reassured him softly.

"I don't need to be coddled as if I were a child." He snapped, he knew the timing was almost too convenient. Itachi's first long distance mission without Shisui ends up in a full scale ambush with Shisui out of harm's way. No, he didn't need to be lied too and spared from the truth. Kagome had that done to her by the First Commander himself and yet here she was-

"Stop." She grabbed his shirt sleeve. "Don't doubt someone who is not guilty and you have trusted for _years."_ She pleaded vehemently. "Itachi trusts Shisui with his life; you honestly think your brother would make such a grave mistake by staking _everything _on that?"

"Not even my brother is perfect, Kagome."

She stilled and relinquished her hold on him. Her words faltered. "O-of course not." She took a step back. "It wasn't Shisui." She reaffirmed her argument.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked her darkly.

"Because if it was, if Shisui truly did this… Itachi would be dead. He wouldn't escape, he wouldn't be just injured…he would be dead. Because that's how much of a threat someone close to you can be."

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his bangs. "The timing is too convenient… all of it points to Shisui."

"You're right. It just means that someone's been planning this for awhile Sasuke." She crossed her arms as her frosty blue eyes glared back at the fiery sun. "Someone is trying to frame Shisui."

* * *

Blank.

That was how the ceiling appeared still after about four hours of staring. To think he actually had the attention span to last this long with an inanimate object was quite amazing.

He was too exhausted to move but too awake to fall asleep again.

Naruto let out a long obnoxious yawn. Really, he never felt more ditched in his life.

Ugh, he let that fox influence him again. Made him feel that Kagome was alone without him, but the fact had been that she was anything but.

ANBU…

They were in it, maybe if he would have applied. Maybe he could have been-

'_**Maybe…maybe…'**_

'_And you were being so good…'_ Really the fox had been, aside from his usual manipulation, he was being quite silent these past few days.

A laugh thin and smooth broke out in sickening peels. _**'Old souls are predictable… dwelling on the little vixen's choices will only infuriate you.'**_

Naruto let out a drawn out sigh. _'And you know who she will choose?'_ The thought came before he could stifle it.

'_**Ah, choose for what?' **_The fox let out another dark chuckle_**. 'The foolish are just as predictable, kit.' **_He could practically visualize that restless pace behind the bars with red eyes gleaming and fangs glinting. '_**And you thought… presenting the little vixen with a kit her age that she would approve and take him? Try and outwit me, kit and you'll lose.'**_ The kitsune's threat was menacing.

'_Stop calling her that.'_ Naruto sighed at the thought of Konohamaru, he knew just from the look of her that they hadn't hit it off. I mean she was practically glued to Sasuke, if anything that lil' date he had set up with Sakura had probably been no more than an annoyance to her. He just wanted her to have some normalcy in her life.

'_**Calling her what?' **_There was a condescending tone to that growl. _**'Hm, fine kit I'll refrain… but the pup's path has already been set.'**_ He warned with fangs plucking at his black lips.

'_Pup?'_

'_**Aa, dogs have pups, kit.'**_He lectured as if Naruto was an ignorant youngling learning the ways of the world.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the looming fox, he waded closer to the bars. Since when did the fox ever listen to him or elaborate on something?

'_**Because kit… you have something I need.'**_

What could he possibly have that an ancient demon would not want but _need?_

'_**Her trust.' **_

Naruto felt himself coil back and his lips lift into a snarl. 'You better not-'

'_**Don't.'**_ Kyuubi gave him a sidelong glance._** 'Assume anything, kit. I may be a demon but I am no monster.'**_

'_You're scheming.' _He accused mentally.

'_**Always am… speaking of our little-'**_

The small knock on his apartment door cut him out of the fox's conversation, but the fact he could picture red eyes and fangs all too easily was concerning.

Naruto opened it hurriedly only to reveal-

"Teme?"

A twelve year old version of Sasuke

Naruto blinked.

"It's me, baka." The Genin Sasuke spoke in a lighter tone he didn't quite remember. His hair was different though, it look smoother and…oh shit.

"Hey…Kagome-chan…" He sent her a cheek smile followed by an apologetic and awkward laugh.

Kagome closed her eyes suddenly with raised brows. Really, first it been dobe with Sasuke and now Naruto was calling her teme. Such obscene names… "Sasuke is holding seats for us at Ichiraku's."

Naruto felt his damper mood lift exponentially. "Right! I'll get my shoes!"

"And clothes." She said with still closed eyes.

"Huh? Why, Gome-chan?"

Her reason for her eyes being closed rang clear as well as to why her cheeks were reddening at an alarming rate.

"You're in your boxers, baka."

* * *

"You're late."

"Baka, had to get dressed." Kagome informed the already brooding Uchiha, tersely.

Sasuke took a sip of his sake as he leveled Naruto with a piercing dark stare.

"Oh c'mon, Teme I was just in my boxers. I don't go commando unlike _some_ people." Naruto shot back as he strolled up next to him and took his usual spot at the counter. Kagome saddled up between them and peered at the menu.

"That was one time." Sasuke muttered darkly.

"I am staying out of this." Kagome shot in and pretended to hear nothing as she began to order plain broth from Ayame.

Naruto shot back a cocky smirk as he relished in his small victory. "Ayame, I'll have my usual miso ramen."

"Naruto, you should be the last one talking." Sakura plopped beside him with a piercing jade glare. "You're the one who will go months without changing your underwear…" She indicted dryly.

"Now Sakura-chan, that's a bit of an over exaggeration." Naruto said a bit too cheerily, trying to brush this subject under the rug was going to prove difficult.

"That's not very hygienic, ya know." And Shisui materialized beside Sasuke with a full saucer of sake in hand. "Thanks for inviting _us_, guys…" He propped an elbow up and cradled his pouting face as he sent a very pointed stare at Kagome in particular. His sarcasm was almost palpable.

"Us?" Sakura seemed to look indignant.

"Why yes, my little blossom. I _was_ the one escorting you before we happened upon our lil' trio here." He shot her a crooked smile before sliding his saucer down the countertop where Sakura caught it easily.

She let the clear liquid swirl in the saucer idly, it caught the red glint of the lanterns. "Ah, that's right… you were stalking me!"

Shisui did a good pull of mock mortification. "I was not stalking you! We happened upon each other by coincidence and I decided to accompany you." He smiled. "And then coincidence blesses me again with stumbling upon this lil' get-together…honestly, Chibi, how could you be so cruel and not invite _us_?" He was definitely stressing _us._

"You didn't invite _us_ to your own lil' get-together last night." Kagome accused as she began to stab the little cubes of tofu in her soup.

"Touché." Shisui raised another saucer that had suddenly materialized in his hand. "But let us not dwell on the past, we're all here now and I want to buy you all a round of drinks!"

"Do you realize how old I am?" Kagome asked in astonishment.

"Eh, you're a few years short but everyone bends the _little _rules for ANBU. C'mon don't tell me you've never had a drink?"

Naruto's mouth was still gaping. "Are you insane?" He asked quite seriously, leaning past Kagome and Sasuke to fix Shisui with a hard stare.

"It's okay, I'll just drink Chibi's share." Shisui supplemented seeing as his cousin's expression was getting quite murderous.

"I'll take Naruto's!" Sakura waved over at Shisui.

"Heh, you still don't stand a chance, pinky." Shisui sneered.

"And Sasuke's!" She shot back.

Shisui smirked and waved over Ayame. "I want a full round for me and my friends here! Get the strong stuff, the pink haired one knows how to hold her liquor."

"This isn't a bar." Ayame informed the boisterous Uchiha briskly with arms crossed.

"Riiight…"

_Three Hours Later…_

"_Sakura Sakura Sakura… _Kami, you have such a plain name…everyone and their mother has your name but you're like the only one who can actually be called it, ya know?" Shisui slung an arm around the pink haired kunoichi.

Sakura smiled and hiccupped. "I know right." She whined with her nose wrinkling. "It's cuz of dis…" She started to pet the top her head. "It's soft, feel."

"It is!" Shisui peered at her scalp.

"What on you doing?"

"Seeing if you dye it."

"Nope." She said as a matter-of-factly. "ALL natural…"

Shisui rubbed a scruffy cheek on her forehead. "If we ever had kids, I'd prolly end up with a pink haired son with my luck…"

"With a big forehead."

"Naah, that be just plain cruel to have both-ow…I mean yeaaah." Shisui laughed as he rubbed his soon to be bruised cheek. "We should just get married right now!"

"That's the bestest idea eveer!" Sakura exclaimed. "What should we name them?"

"Who?"

"Our children!"

"Oh…yeah. How about Pinky One and Pinky Two."

"Nooo." She slurred and pinched the intoxicated Uchiha's cheeks. "We need to name them… chopstick and bowl!"

"You're looking at the first things you see! You shame our legacy!"

"Choppy and Bobo! The most fearsome shinobi known to man!"

Naruto looked up, awakened by the racket; he'd taken a quick nap after about the fourth bottle of sake that had rotated past them. He looked dazedly over to where Sasuke was, his head was leaning back on a wooden post with dark eyes lambent with the red light of the lanterns and an arm locked solidly on the counter to steady the swiveling barstool.

Naruto looked down to the weight on his lap, only to see a pair small feet in his thighs and Kagome sprawled across the two of them with her head placed peacefully on Sasuke's reclining abdomen.

One small hand clutched Sasuke's shirt fabric while the other hung limply past as Kagome was snuggly asleep.

Sasuke's eyes remained steady, staring ahead in calm complacency.

Naruto spared a glance over to Shisui and Sakura who were now discussing the color of their wedding flowers, which _surprisingly_ was pink. "We should take those two home before Sakura-chan ends up pregnant." He muttered as he plucked Kagome's feet off of him.

"Aa." Sasuke agreed as he began to shift Kagome about until her eyes eventually fluttered open.

She muttered something incomprehensible and Naruto felt something twist in his chest, really he'd been away far too long…

And then Sasuke did something he never expected. "Take her."

Kagome was handed to him in a blink of an eye, half awake and staring at him with a dazed look that told him she didn't care what he was doing she just wanted to go back to sleep. It was like she was ragdoll and Sasuke realized it was his turn now.

Sasuke said nothing else as he grabbed the intoxicated Sakura by the collar of her red cheongsam and dragged her out of Shisui's grasp.

"Ah, Sasuke-kuuun. Don't get jealous…" She teased as she puckered her lips in a teasing fashion.

Shisui glowered. "Aww, be good to him, my little blossom!"

"Until we meet again, my love!" Sakura swooned as Sasuke dragged her off.

"Oi teme!" Naruto called as he put Kagome on his back. "What about him?" He jacked a thumb at his cousin who was now proposing to Ayame.

Sakura was draped over Sasuke's shoulder. "Leave him." He wrinkled his nose as he felt drool dribble from a semi-conscious Sakura.

Naruto shrugged, if both of them got home from their escapades the night prior he was sure at least one could tonight.

And with that thought he took Kagome home.

* * *

Well sometime between the front door and her bed, Kagome had woken up and was now peering up at him with sleepy blue eyes. She smiled a cheeky dazed smile. "I'm glad your back." She sleepily smiled up from her pillow.

Naruto tousled her dark short locks. "Hm, me too." His expression paled though when she pulled him down insistently.

Naruto backed up. "Kagome… what are you doing?"

She stilled and blinked. "Naruto… I…"

He ran a hand through his blonde locks. "I can't stay with you."

"Why?" Her voice was hard.

He let out a frustrated breath. "I just can't…"

"Can't?" She seemed fully awake now.

"Kagome-chan, there is something in me…"

"If you're talking about the demon Naruto…." Her voiced trailed, almost desperate. "I've known about _that_ before I even knew you." All ANBU were informed about Jinnchuuriki and what to do if one was to ever _rebel._

Naruto closed his eyes and stepped out of her reach. "It's not…fuck, I can't explain it… but it's just the demon, it manipulates me and others… I can't trust it and neither can you."

"You're saying… I'm being manipulated by a demon?" God she said demon as if it_ were_ any other word.

"No… I mean…shit, I don't know." He fell down on her futon suddenly and buried his face into his hands.

Small cool fingers pried at him, until he would look at her. "Naruto…" her voice sounded so much older. "Naruto. Look at me."

He did but cautiously.

"Does it talk to you?"

He said nothing. His blues eyes were averted and diming.

She sighed. "How freely does it influence you?" She asked seriously. "Naruto, I need to kn-"

Naruto was up before she could finish and was already out the door, he didn't even look back.

She slumped back with the realization hitting like a ton of bricks.

So much for _that _reunion.

If she knew anything and from what she felt, then there was a thin layer in Naruto. Something thin that separated him from the demon he contained. She knew the basics of sealing and the fox's consciousness should have been sealed away as well.

She sighed.

A few momentary lapses in the strength of the seal would have been expected but she couldn't shake a feeling. A feeling deep inside of her that as basic as instinct.

She knew it.

The seal was breaking.

* * *

She'd had trouble falling asleep after that.

But after a few hours of drifting in out of a dreamless trance she was jolted awake by the thrashing of violent winds.

Now there was no way, she'd be able to fall asleep.

It seemed like ages had passed as the wind whipped and whined furiously, rattling the windowpanes and snapping branches that scraped and licked at the glass. If there had been a moon, she wouldn't know it. The sky was muddled in sooty clouds that hung low and reflected the reddened ashen color of city lights.

It was an unnatural sort of night, one that made her anxious.

Her eyes wandered, over to the black shadows dancing over the grey walls. She sighed and then her mind wandered as well

And, unsurprisingly she thought of Itachi's parting words.

_Sleep well…_

He knew that she wouldn't, but it was his wish.

She remembered his promise, _three days…maybe four_, for a mission that required two weeks.

She knew that she shouldn't, but it was her wish.

And now Itachi was MIA, with Shisui as a main suspect.

To say she felt responsible for this entire ordeal was an understatement. She felt like a ghost, hollow and wandering past, clinging to Sasuke as the only trace that Itachi ever existed at all.

Their time together was so brief, despairingly so and yet, she had latched onto the first person who offered _something. _And now she felt him slipping through her fingers, for in her one bout of selfishness, she had risked it all and had practically thrown him to wolves.

She sat up with a sharp intake of breath. Her cool fingers skimmed her cheeks.

Why was she crying?

She bit her lip.

Hard.

She threw off the thin covers with a suppressed scream that sounded more like crumpled wail.

She began to pace, with the agitation of a caged cat with her heartbeat thrumming in her ears.

_Thump._

She'd never felt so helpless in her life.

_Thump._

And yet all she could was cry and feel sorry for herself.

_Thump._

Kami, it was _disgusting…_

_Thump._

She growled as she felt a dizzying feeling wash over her, her heart was beating slowly now… the sound thudded… until… she realized-

That wasn't her heart.

_Crack._

Her window-

Her world shattered.

The wind slapped her in the face, along with the glistening shards that flew out at her like bullets.

Branches clawed at her walls as the wind cried.

She opened her eyes only to see a shadow standing in the shattered windowpane.

She took a step forward, hesitantly, with glass crunching under her feet and pinpricks of pains dotting all over her.

"I-Itachi…" She felt joy bubble up from her throat in a relieved cry. Bliss threaded her limbs and bloomed in her chest, it was too good to be true…

And it was.

For he fell into her arms with enough force to bring her down as well.

For a long agonizing moment, she felt him, the soft beat of his heart and his weight on her so forcefully so, but then she realized-

He was limp. He was cold.

And he was bleeding.

_A lot. _

_I can sense life easily…_

Oh, how she could and that inner sense was screaming at her-

_He was dying._

* * *

She had once thought, moments before it all happened, that _he_ was slipping through her fingers.

But she had no concept of that idea until _now._

She could feel _it_, pulsating in him, his _life…_

And it was slipping through her fingers like water.

She couldn't stop it, but it was ebbing away with each breath he rasped.

He was like an empting cup, something she couldn't grasp or stop was slipping away from him.

So she did what her _instincts_ screamed for her to do.

She poured herself into him, everything she could possibly give at that moment spilled forth.

And it felt like she was drowning, and in a sense, she was.

* * *

His eyes opened, once. Just once.

And in that moment, she felt panic curdle in her gut as she stared dazedly at the three tomoe back dropped by carmine.

Then, something stilled in her. She had poured herself into him and now as she stared at those eyes.

She only recognized it as a part of herself.

Relief breathed its sigh into her as she felt no fear towards his Sharingan, but even more so with the plain fact laying before her on a bed of glass.

He was alive.

And he was breathing.

Everything went black after that.

* * *

Nothing woke her.

It was simply herself, opening her eyes to a blue morning with no sun.

And looking upon a man, with closed eyes too hollow and skin too pale, lying on a bed of glass without so much as a scratch.

Leaving her the one kneeling by his shattered bedside, sore and bleeding all over.

Kagome reached out to him, her hands were _covered_ as glass tinkled under her wrist.

But the distance was too great and she fell short.

So she leaned all the way, glass prickling her and laid down on his chest and listened to the most beautiful sound she'd ever experienced.

Because it was there and only because she willed it to.

Oh what a beautiful thing it was.

_His heart. _

* * *

It was beyond early.

Yes well, beyond early for someone who was suffering from a hangover for the _second_ day in a row.

Sakura skimmed the embroidered fabric. It was folded neatly in silken stacks, she knew she couldn't afford it but she did like to fancy it now and then before eventually purchasing her usual fresh linens.

Being in the fabric's district in Konoha's market was a good place to get a good deal on a new bed set, but apparently she wasn't the only one up early nor was she the only one eyeing the last set of plain linens.

_Apparently,_ she couldn't hold her liquor as well as Shisui had claimed and woke up with a nasty start.

Needless to say, it was easier to just throw away her old bed set, take a shower and buy another before anyone noticed.

She plucked the small stack of linens right from under the nose of some clanswoman who glared at her before huffing away. Sakura stuck out her tongue at the old hag and went on her way.

That is, until she heard whispers.

Sakura peered around the corner, the salesmen as well as a few other customers were muttering amongst themselves and staring very intently and quite warily down a certain aisle.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Sakura waddled over to the aisle she had just emerged from and took a gander at the luxurious silks-

There was a girl.

A very short one, with stark black hair hanging past her face and soiled hands caressing the expensive silk comforters…

Sakura froze.

The basket containing her new bed set tumbled from her limp grasp like a stone. _"Kagome-chan!"_ She called in a hoarse whisper.

She was running to her before she could think, hands outstretched and reaching for the girl.

It was like touching a standing corpse.

Kagome's eyes were blank and intently drawn onto the silk. Sakura shook her. "Kagome, Kagome!" She felt her own voice waver. Kami, she was _scaring_ her. "Kagome, look at me." She jerked the small girl's body forcefully to face her. She couldn't control her eyes though. "What is _this_?" She brought the girl's own hands to her face, they were covered- "Kagome, what is on your hands?" Sakura didn't recognize her own voice.

No response.

Just blank, dull watery eyes staring at the simple silk.

"What happened?" She demanded, a bit loudly. There was a crowd gathering. Sakura clasped onto the girl's hands, covering them and shielding her with her crouched back from the intrusive bystanders.

The girl didn't look up; her vacant eyes were focused in on the silk. "I need new sheets…" Her mantra to herself was chanted _over_ and _over._

Something clicked with Sakura just then and there. "Kagome… is he hurt?"

Eventually, slowly, Kagome glanced up. "I tried…" Her voice cracked. "But, he won't wake up… and… I thought I could wake him up if I got rid of all the blood." Her voice was dead.

Sakura instinctively looked down at Kagome's small hands. Something in her had prevented her to do so earlier, but now she knew why her subconscious had spared her the gruesome sight.

It snaked and splattered its way up to her elbows in the fashion one could only get either through healing something fatal or murder.

"Kagome… why are you here?" Sakura asked, her voice was full and laden with worry. "

A small hand skimmed the silk leaving a russet trail. "It's everywhere…I _tried_, I tried _so_ hard." Kagome whispered. "The stains will never come out…"

Sakura felt something in her snap.

Sakura grabbed the girl's cheek with matronly firmness as she forcefully turned her head to face her. "Where is he?" She demanded.

"Sleeping…" Kagome muttered with eyes drooping.

Sakura watched as Kagome's scratched face bobbed for a moment until she caught the swaying child in her grasp.

And then Sakura gathered her up, bloodstained hands and all.

* * *

**Author's Ramble: **So when Kagome was huffing and puffing around her apartment Itachi is at the window, tapping "bitch! let me in!" and then she was still having a tantrum and then he's like "fuck it" and busts down the window. Yeah, well that's basically my summed up version :)

**Author's Note:** I will _not_ be posting an update schedule, due to the fact I will not do so unless I have the next chapter fully completed. I won't lie to you and say that it is. But it is coming along rather nicely and I am about half way done. Anyways for progress, questions for me and Crow Rat's Forum and of course update scheduling, please reference my profile. ~KK

_P.S._ I expect Chapter 11 to be done within the week or so and will post the update date accordingly to the _reviews_. I will be referencing last chapter's update schedule for numbers, if that gives anybody an estimate.


	11. Only Dolls Wear Dresses

****

Author's Note:

_~It's technically wednesday on the east coast, sooo does anyone mind a few hours early on the west?_

**Parings:** Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome

**Side Parings:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

**************

* * *

**

**Tsuchi no Kuni**

_**5 Months ago…**_

The problem with _Earth_ country was…

It was pretty damn rocky, especially when running away.

Especially when running away from someone that could_ fly_.

"_Kikyo-san!" _Echoed from the sky, reverberating off every crevice and rock in the gaping canyon she was currently hiding in. _"Come out, come out…wherever you are, yeah!"_ The voice continued, circling above on whatever monstrous beast he had molded this time around.

Why did she pick _that_ name of all names to be her fake one? Then again, it would be alot worse hearing him call her real name.

Kagome bit her lip, wincing in pain at the scrape she had gotten earlier, when the cave she had been hiding in exploded and she had to evacuate because a certain blonde maniac was after her _again._

That was two hours ago.

But the wound was healing swiftly, she mused as she pressed two fingers to the already sluggish blood flow stemming from her hip. Yes, she was healing quickly.

_Just like always._ She thought as she scraped along the edge of straight up cliff, with pebbles tumbling off and into the canyon by her toes. The snow seeped into her clothes as well. It blanketed everything, making his clay beasts camouflage seamlessly. She scuttled about and melded into the shadows, taking shelter against an outcropping that blocked the bitter wind. She was running away from a lunatic! Not Hunter-nin, not Iwa ANBU, not Kumo ANBU… but a raving mad, foaming at the mouth lunatic!

"_He's insane."_ She whispered to that little voice inside her head who yelling at her, to go with him. To submit to a man that had helped her and was actually somewhat (overlooking the psychotic tendencies) _nice._

He _had_ killed the Kaminari ANBU that had ambushed her at the border, when she couldn't stop their hearts, he had obliterated them. _Literally._

He blew people up and then_ laughed_ about it!

It was too much for her to handle, he had already compromised her mission enough. She was in fucking Earth country! She was supposed to be in Lightning, investigating some crime syndicate on the border!

The Hokage was going to disembowel her for such a delay.

But no, she was being chased for the past few weeks by a terrorist!

Another rush of wind soughed above. The bird he had created was gliding in and out of every rocky crevice, searching for her. For she was among the rocks in the this ruddy canyon maze. But she had hoped that eventually all this would prove taxing on him.

She had been proven wrong. _Again._

For Deidara had kept this up for the past six hours, especially since this was her fourteenth break, he had become even more enthusiastic with their little game of cat and mouse…

She needed to get away from him. She needed to start her mission, she needed to get away from the insane nuke-nin that had almost killed her in his attempts to capture her.

Kagome finally formulated and plan and _launched._

Into the air with arms to her sides and legs streaming behind, her hair fluttered in her face and in matter of heartbeats, Deidara was making a beeline towards her. The sight of the gaping gorge below her and a lunatic diving towards her, made her heart flutter hollowly. It was enough to give her vertigo.

She threw her arms back and arched in one movement, then her fingertips flicked waves of unseen Wind chakra right at him. Blades roared and Kagome flipped so that she was able to twist and dive straight out of the line of counterattack and also-

Straight towards the ground.

Something was hit. That's all she could gather while plunging towards the earth.

She crossed her forearms, channeled her chakra and with a scream, she pushed Wind in front of her. It hit her chest like iron, throwing her up and into the air like a ragdoll.

And then she was floating, for a split second, she could just see the crisp winter sky and the curve of the world reaching back out for her…

And it took her back with a vengeance.

She was falling, but she had more leeway and soon she was channeling her chakra to make soft currents under her back and to take her to the next ledge.

She crashed into rock with a sickening _crack._

Kagome let out a muffled cry and cradled her shattered hand. She slammed her eyes shut as her arm pounded with fire. _"Ngh…"_ She screamed with lips shut tightly white and the prospect of quick healing.

Minutes passed and the cold was a welcome numb, but she was still breathing hot and heavy.

Snow trickled overhead, the overhang shaded her from the lacy veil and darkened everything. The world was white and grey. Silent with snow settling, the ice that licked at the canyon's core was stilling.

She had _hit_ something, she promised herself.

Meaning he had to take an emergency landing and give up.

Of course he was not dead, she had done much more lethal attacks on him before. Especially Genjutsu, when the casual walking away when he was sleeping had not worked.

But Genjutsu…

He broke them like glass and always with a smile and gleaming eyes. Anything stronger would _break _him and she simply just_ couldn't_ do that. So she resorted to good old fashion violence, but that only encouraged him _more._

But now, everything was beautifully quiet. He had never gone this long without the sudden explosion or knockout; where_ then_ he would proceed to drag her back to camp, lecture her about how she was being a very bad girl and then patch her up with supper and send her off to bed.

Unfortunately for Kagome…

Suddenly, a blonde head popped up, nose to nose, blue eyes to blue.

Deidara was very hard to get rid of.

"_Boo!"_

She screamed.

* * *

**-Chapter Eleven-**

Only Dolls Wear Dresses

* * *

_-that's why I burn them, and swaddle you in blood,_

_because I don't want to see your bruises,_

_just dreams, you always loved my dreams._

* * *

He usually didn't dream.

He liked to think that his mind was too proficient to dabble into something as futile as dreaming.

But he did, _occasionally._

And when he did, it was most likely, most definitely _horrific._

Except this time, no images of scabbing emaciated children, or crying bruised women, or broken half dead men came to mind.

No, he dreamed for once.

Not of war. Not of peace.

But a time in between that.

A time where his legs were too short to reach the lake waters when sitting on the dock, a time when his hair was still unbound and uncut, a time when he could still remember colors without red and still smell without smoke choking him…

A time when his mother didn't fear him and he was small and she would still hold him and say."Ita-chan, tell me the color of the sky?"

And, he would respond correctly _of course._ "Blue." Well, it was a more powdered blue this morning, with gold clouds rimmed pink with dawn coiling like waves. "Hai, now count your toes."

"Nine."

He heard her giggle in his ear as she placed a kiss on his temple. "Ita-chan, don't tease me like that… I know you can count."

He knew she was smiling. She always asked such _easy_ questions, but he _liked_ answering them, whether they were wrong _(purposely) _or right, Okaa-san never cared. "Okaa-san?"

"Hm?" He heard his mother hum; her eyes were distant and calm.

"When will my new sister be born?" He asked her quite seriously. After all, his mother's stomach had gotten quite fat recently.

He felt his mother laugh softly. "Why do you think it's going to be a girl, Itachi?"

He paused. "Because… I _want_ one."

Mikoto nuzzled her son's cheek and smiled. "What's wrong with having a brother?"

"My otouto would get jealous." Itachi informed his mother, with dark eyes focusing on the lapping waters of the lake. It was true, all of the other children were and so it was inevitable that his little brother would be.

"And you think having an imouto will change this?" Mikoto mused as she tucked a thin lock of black hair behind her son's ear.

Itachi nodded. "My imouto would look up to me." She would be nice and pretty too. She would hug him and call him Ita-kun and would maybe even get those _other_ girls to stop following him. Yes. He much rather have a sister.

"Hm, your otouto would idolize you even more, Ita-chan." Mikoto paused in thought. "You don't want a sister anyhow… sisters eventually grow up and have families of their own. She wouldn't be yours forever."

"I would protect her, Okaa-san."

Mikoto stilled. "You want someone to protect?"

The young boy nodded seriously. "Un, why else would I be so strong?" There had to be a reason why he was, right? His otouto would eventually learn to protect himself but an imouto… He would be truly needed then.

"You'll find someone to protect one day, Itachi."

"When?" He looked up at his mother, now her dark eyes reflected the lake's placid waters.

"Nobody knows when they will find their special person, but when they do they'll do _anything_ to protect them." His mother's words didn't sound very reassuring more cryptic and somber.

"How?"

Mikoto fixed him with a puzzled stare. "How what, Ita-chan?" Her voice was soft again.

"How do you know?" He blinked. "How do you know who your special person is?"

"Well… you love them, Ita-chan." She instructed as she felt the wind ripple over the lake in quiet undulations. "It could be a friend, a child, a family member, or maybe a spouse, but all you know is that they're your most precious person and you'll do anything to protect them."

Itachi pondered this for a long while and Mikoto watched amusedly as her son somewhat brewed about this. "Okaa-san?" Itachi suddenly asked. "Who is your special person?"

Itachi felt his mother's arms tighten around him and kiss peck his temple. "I have_ two_."

Itachi swiveled in her lap and fixed her with a scrutinizing stare. "You can have more than one?"

"Hai…and I have them _both_ right here." Mikoto took Itachi's small hand and placed it on her swollen belly. He stared intently on his mother's stomach, when her son remained silent and expressionless, Mikoto sighed. "Don't worry Itachi, you'll meet her one day."

Itachi's small brow drew together. "I'm not having an imouto am I?" It was more of a statement.

"Hm Ita-chan, you're always so smart."

Four months later Sasuke was born and the Third Great Shinobi War broke out leaving his country scarred as well as his young mind.

After that, his mother couldn't protect him any longer.

He usually didn't dream.

But he did, _occasionally._

But the things with dreams is-

You eventually have to wake up.

…

He was awake before he opened his eyes.

Sakura knew this from the way his hand caught her wrist with a sharpness that made the emerald glow shudder from her hands.

She ripped her hands away from the now conscious Uchiha.

Itachi's eyes slid open, revealing dark eyes that were impossible to read. He watched her warily. He obviously hadn't expected _her _to be there.

"You should have gone to the hospital." Sakura bit out as she let her hands return to their previous hover over his chest. Her eyes were averted, she refused to look at him in the eye. She did the only thing she knew how to do under pressure.

Sakura healed.

And so her fingertips flared once more with that emerald glow as she tried to stem the shaking in her hands. The wind blew in, cold and fresh from the gaping window frame.

The kunoichi hovered over him with hands a flare and skin glowing in the soft pink morning light. There was something cold and fierce thrashing in those jade eyes however and not even the crisp morning could deter that fact.

It didn't take a genius to see that the kunoichi was furious.

"But you _didn't_." The glow flared at that last syllable. "And now… I have a little girl covered in _blood _and _glass _suffering post traumatic stress." Her voice was numb as her jade eyes slowly and achingly slid to meet his dark obsidian. "So, now I want to know, what the fuck were you thinking?"

The pink haired kunoichi was shaking, each word held such rage and yet all he could do was stare apathetically.

The emerald glow dissipated once more. "I've been patient, Itachi. Shisui swore you would never hurt her, that you wanted to protect her from the corruption that would plague her in ANBU, that you wouldn't do anything so… _stupid!" _The last word stung for the kunoichi was gripping his arm with a grip that was unnaturally strong. "You're supposed to be ten steps ahead…" She whispered hoarsely, her voice was breaking. "But all I see now is a lonely boy who can't think of anyone but himself."

The Uchiha remained silent, laying there limply and seemingly helpless with dark hair spilling over the pillow and glistening slits of obsidian.

Sakura knew petty insults wouldn't affect Itachi, in fact she knew her little speech would barely do very much. But she had his attention and that was something right there. "If you can't protect her…" _Then none of us can. _Her voice trailed, in a way she was putting her trust in Itachi, they all were. He seemed so detached all the time, it was like he saw the world clearer. But maybe, maybe she was wrong.

"Haruno-san." He was sitting up with hair unbound and dark eyes studying her.

Sakura looked up from her trembling hands. She was angry, she was_ beyond_ angry. Itachi shouldn't have put Kagome in that position, he knew her fears. One who refuses to kill, obvious holds a strong sense of life and death. Kagome had that and seeing a person she had cared for bleed out had called her to act, to do anything to salvage that life that had been slipping away. Itachi had taken advantage of that, exploited it even, from what she had deduced. Maybe it was for attention or some sort of sick mind game they had all been afraid of…"I should report this to Tsunade-shishou…" She mumbled with half lidded eyes.

"Haruno-san." Itachi's voice stressed again, that smooth tenor had hardened quite a bit. That jolted her out of her thoughts, obviously she was easy to read and he was not very approving of her thoughts.

Sakura looked up hesitantly at the Uchiha Prodigy. He looked tired, beyond it actually. His eyes that were already sunken in had taken on a purplish hue underneath while, his dark eyes seemed grayed over by fatigue as well.

"_What is it…"_ He paused, she sat numbed by this person who barely gave her a second thought as he seemed to be concerned now, about what she _thought._ His next words were a struggle. "What… do you think is the nature of my relationship with Higurashi-san?" He regarded Kagome with but a cold surname.

"I…Well, I don't know. I think a lot of things, actually…" She muttered with eyes dipping away. He knew what she was saying. She wasn't about to tell the First Captain of the Assassinations Squad that he was attached to a little girl.

"Do you realize I am betrothed?" He suggested smoothly, the ice in his voice made a chill rub between her should blades.

"I know that… but Yui-san…"

"Will be my future wife." He supplemented for Sakura's lack of tongue. "There is also the matter of our age difference as well, Haruno-san. Higurashi-san is a child, I am a grown man."

Sakura gaped. "What are you saying?" So Itachi had no interest in Kagome, he made her sound like a business partner of sorts.

"I am merely stating the facts Haruno-san."

"So, what is it you want me to understand? That Kagome-chan is nothing to you? Do you have any idea how that will affect her when she finds out? She idolizes you the same way as Sasuke-kun does, even more so-"

Itachi held up a hand. A fluid motion to silence her. "I am telling you these things so that you understand how _inappropriate_ our relationship is."

Again, Sakura felt her mouth hang. Oh Kami, she didn't know what was worse now…

Itachi let a thin hand run through his bangs languidly, before draping it over a propped knee once more. "For that reason only, people will target us…" His tone was thin, laced with an edge as he was barely looking at her. He fell into the shadow of the blanket she had managed to pin to cover the glassless window. Speckles of soft pink light pricked through it, dotting his shadowed figure and flecking his ashen face.

"Target?"

Something that resembled a nod was made by the ANBU Captain. Slowly his eyes closed and remained that way for a long moment until they reopened once more. "In every way imaginable, people will target the ones who are held to a higher standard…" His eyes flitted over to her with the swiftness that made Sakura wince. "That is why Haruno-san, you should not doubt someone who is in the _exact _same circumstances."

Something cooled in her gut, Sakura felt that anger finally chill and withdraw as she felt the weight of his words. They were in the same situation, Itachi and Kagome, and he was right about being them being targeted. He was a man of calculation and premeditation, there would be nothing to be gained from antagonizing a little girl. Let alone mess with her head. There was obvious a reason why he had done this, yet she couldn't quite squelch that doubt completely. So the real question was-

"What do you want from her?" Her words were bleak as she rescinded back fully now.

The light that prickled through and had managed to touch him seemed unnatural on such a cold face. A twitch of the lips caught her attention as well as the gleam flashing across those dark eyes. "Absolutely nothing."

Something stilled in the air.

A blatant lie.

_Absolutely nothing_

He was testing her, to see if she saw through it.

Sakura felt her chest plummet with the reality

No.

Uchiha Itachi.

Wanted _everything._

Shisui's joking words reverberated through her mind now with a cryptic message. _'Itachi is one possessive bastard…'_

It was then, a tendril of understanding brushed her.

And then Sakura's face knitted itself into a hard expression. "You know… _one_ person can't fill that void inside of you." Sakura's words were edged.

Itachi said nothing to that.

Sakura sighed at his stillness; he looked stoic as a statue and just as expressionless and cold. "Why did you do it?" She didn't have to elaborate. Her question was clear. If there were no ulterior motives to him, then there obviously had to be a reason. Why did you do it? Why did you force this onto Kagome, to make her face her-

"Fear." He said only one word.

Sakura felt her next words crumple in her throat as she listened to his reasoning.

"Higurashi-san's fear of death is concerning."

"She fears the Sharingan as well." Sakura received a studying glance. "What? I heard Shisui's threat you made to Sasuke… 'Don't use your Sharingan around Kagome or I'll use it on you'" She quoted nasally. She paused at the utterly blank slate of an expression Itachi was giving her. "Alright, seriously what is so concerning about fearing death? I'm afraid to die and so are a lot of shinobi, they are just too macho to admit it."

Itach's gaze went to the bloodied sheets. Sakura watched as he examined the bloodstains. Really they were a gruesome sight, it was hard to believe he had bled that much and was now well, still _breathing_. "She does not fear for herself, Haruno-san… only when it comes to others." His tone was a tad condescending, but she stemmed the urge to snap instantaneously.

Sakura bit her lip. "Kagome doesn't fear death…?" She questioned numbly and watched as Itachi didn't meet her gaze. "How do you know that?" She asked pointedly.

His eyes were averted, with dark hair falling beside his cheekbones he stared at the bloodstains._"I strangled her."_ His voice was vacant.

"That explains the bruises." She remembered seeing yellowish marks of a waning contusion around her neck- wait. She shouldn't be so calm about this. "What?" She clipped, her voice carried a bit high.

"Sometimes… Haruno-san, confrontation is the only method of conquering a fear."

"And apparently you blew it on the last one didn't you?" She chastised harshly. "Really? You had to strangle her? And then you had to bust in through the window half dead just to get your point across?" Her words didn't betray her thoughts, his actions were probably heavily premeditated but still very radical. "So what fear did we conquer today?" Her tone was viciously mordant.

Itachi's eyes slid to the side, like a predator eyeing a nuisance with the intent to lash out. He blinked fluidly before a flash of crimson.

Sakura huffed, she was just _overwhelmed _and honestly, nothing could shock her any longer. "Alright so you're saying Kagome is over her fear of the Sharingan…" Sakura iterated dryly with the traces of skepticism apparent.

"Yes…" That was exactly what he was saying.

Kagome couldn't have this fear, not with Sasuke on her team. It would cripple them both.

Even Sakura knew Itachi couldn't protect her from everything, so until then, apparently he would help her get stronger, even if meant some_ unorthodox_ methods.

"You know… I don't believe you ever think anything through."

Sakura's light tone caught him off guard, he let his eyes land on her for a brief moment. "Is that so?" He mused darkly.

"Yeah, I think you just do whatever the hell you want and whatever happens, you just play it off as the apathetic genius who had planned it all along."

Amusement glinted in those dark eyes of his. "Aa… that is an interesting theory Haruno-san."

"_See_… There you go again; acting like you expected me to say that." Sakura crossed her arms and stood, sending a searching glance at the Uchiha. "Well, it was great bonding with you Itachi-san… but I hope you know you won't be able to sweep this entire incident underneath the rug."

"I never intended to." His tenor was polite almost, no longer frigid and intimidating and his gaze held her with a mild tolerance now. It was sort of a nice feeling to know you were in the good graces of one of the most misunderstood and apathetic men in Konoha.

"I'll probably have to report this to Tsunade-shishou."

His head was slightly bowed with his back arched, he looked thin and worn out just then. "Aa." Understanding glinted in those eyes of his, but the reluctance was palpable.

"I'll… be brief about it. No doubt Shishou already knows something about it already, so I don't think heavy observation will be taken with Kagome." Sakura informed him. "I think the last thing we need is Kagome-chan to be scrutinized by Ibiki again or hospitalized…"

It was clear to him what she was offering, to help alleviate the stress of this whole situation Sakura would report to their Hokage and well, tell the story in much less dramatic version."Arigato, Haruno-san."

Sakura sent a small smile to him as she gathered up her purse and red pull over she had been wearing to the market before all of_ this_ had happened. "I cleaned up the glass and tried to get most of the blood out of the carpet…" She started idly as she straightened her sleeveless cheongsam but paused when Itachi's usually preoccupied gaze fell onto her expectantly. Her smile faded into an even softer one. "…and Kagome-chan is tucked away in the entryway with her brand spanking new blanket!" She sang cheerily. Well she couldn't exactly carry Kagome out of the market place covered in blood, so she grabbed the first blanket she saw and literally swaddled the girl. Being a ninja had some perks and those included impeccable shoplifting skills…

Silence was her answer. She had still questions for him, maybe even more so now after their little chat. At the very least, she had gotten some more light shed on the subject of Itachi's relationship with Kagome, as well as his reason for throwing himself through her window half dead…

She definitely still had some more questions.

But those could wait.

"She has a few scrapes… but I just bandaged them." She wanted her to heal naturally and not have to put her body through forced cell regeneration. Healing wasn't magic, it still took its toll on the body and her body didn't need any more stress.

Again, when he didn't answer, she felt as if her welcome was waning thin now.

Sakura paced across the small flat and with a final glance back at the stark Uchiha, she shook her head. "I'll be checking in on you…" She warned lightly.

And with that Sakura closed the door behind her, leaving a pair of prodigies in her wake.

…

"Ugh… you better have a good reason for dragging me here…" A very irritated Shisui growled as he buried his face into arms with hair spiky hair flaring.

Sakura thrummed her nails against the rim of the glass. "Well, since it was _your _cousin who caused the incident this morning I figured _you_ had to buy my very upset tummy and throbbing skull breakfast."

"How can you be up so early...?" Groaned the spiky mass of dark hair on the table.

"By drinking lots of fluids and running healing chakra through my liver." She quipped as she swirled the ice cubes in her sparkling water. "Seriously I brought you here for a reason." She snapped him out of his hung over pity party. Really, she liked this place. Her and Ino ate here all the time, it was a nice little veranda breezily situated over Konoha with decent sweets that she liked to pig out on. It was also a great way to ease her throbbing hangover.

A bloodshot eye poked from behind dark messy bangs. "What did my cousin do now…?"

"Well…" She trailed and let her eyes drift over to the birds scuttling about.

"Spit it out."

"I told you Kagome-chan healed him."

A bob of hair was all she made out.

"And I think I should report it to Tsunade-shishou…" Sakura hinted as she relished in the cool morning light drenching her skin.

Shisui was propped up with eyes heavy with dark circles and hair even more wild than before. It was amazing that he was able to tie it back at all this morning. "Ah, but Itachi will have to report to her eventually… I mean a few ANBU from his squadron who had gotten separated have already reported back last night. So if they got away, then obviously she knows he did. He will report it… so there's no use in you-"

"I'm talking about the healing…"

"I know, but Itachi was the one who was healed so-"

"You don't understand." She finally snapped. "When I found Kagome, she was absolutely _covered_ in…" She couldn't really finish. There was no way that Itachi would have been able to walk away unscathed from that much _blood._

Shisui's face fell into a grim expression. It was odd to witness such a dark glower on such a usually uplifting face. "When you found her in the market district?"

Sakura nodded seriously. "It was terrifying… she looked like a walking corpse…" Images of her dead dull eyes came back, her pallid skin rimmed red all the way to the elbows. "There's no way Itachi would have been able to just… simply walk away from that."

"But he did." Shisui supplemented seriously but the underlying relief was there.

Sakura twirled a rosette lock nervously as she nodded. "… but do you know how much chakra that would have taken to accomplish that amount of healing?"

"_A lot."_ Shisui guessed darkly but his eyes were somewhere else.

Sakura shook her head. "Beyond that, I mean no Med-nin would be conscious after that… even _then _the victim would have at least some residual tissue damage or at least some scarring…"

"And what did Itachi have?"

"_Nothing."_ Sakura's words were a breathy whisper. Shisui could see the uncertainty bordering fear in her eyes. "His chakra… was even replenished… it was like he'd never been injured at all."

Shisui remained still, with eyes hard but listening.

"And then Kagome's chakra was _untouched_ like she hadn't done anything at all… whatever she used… it wasn't any Ninjutsu…" Sakura's hands quaked, she'd never felt so uncertain about anything. Kagome was rather new to their little team… but she was still a part of it. A part of them. A part of their family. And now she was being hurt by _something _and there was nothing Sakura could do about it.

A strong hand, calloused and warm, clasped onto her trembling hands. "Listen…" Shisui's eyes were dark but comforting. "Whatever is happening to her, Itachi will figure it out. He always fixes things."

"What if there is nothing to fix… this could be her Kekkei Genkai for all we know…" Kami, why was her voice still shaky?

"Miraculous healing? That's not so bad…" Shisui sent her a smile. "I mean it could be a lot worse, like self-imploding or mind control…" When Sakura remained unnerved, he rubbed a calloused thumb over her knuckles. "C'mon Pinky… what's wrong? Healing is a good thing." But from the way she was looking away and what with jade eyes dimming it seemed catastrophic.

Sakura sighed and sat bat numbly. "You know… when I found her… she felt hollow, like she lost a part of herself…"

Shisui's hands hardened over hers just a bit. "What are you saying? That healing Itachi made her go-"

_Crazy._

But Shisui would never say that.

And Sakura wouldn't even think it.

"Unstable…?" She unknotted their fingers and placed them lightly in her lap. "I don't know. But she didn't feel right…"

"So you think that her healing is unhealthy? That it could be possibly hurting her?" Shisui leaned in with dark eyes holding onto her every word. This was a very serious matter if Sakura was right.

Sakura bit her quivering lip. "That's part of it… I read up on her history and this morning wasn't the first time she had done something of this caliber…"

Shisui blew a frayed spike of hair out of his face. "You're talking about when she went AWOL." He spoke knowingly about Kagome little meltdown six months ago, the one that had landed her in the hospital and suspended from ANBU on mandatory probation.

Sakura nodded. "Whatever happened on _that_ mission…. it was definitely the start of things…"

"If your theory is correct, then she must of done some major healing or something to that effect on her mission."

"…and when she abandoned her new squad…" Sakura trailed weakly, she knew Shisui was following. When Kagome went AWOL from the ANBU squad that had been meant to look after her-

"She ended up in the hospital." Shisui surmised as he leaned back suddenly. His dark eyes were averted and gleaming in the morning sun. The Hokage had said it was by a miracle that Kagome had survived. "So you think that her miraculous recovery wasn't by chance." From the way Sakura's eyes flitted about, that was exactly what she thought. Whatever Kagome was doing, it wasn't healthy for her.

"That's why I think Shishou should know." Sakura finally reasoned bleakly. "It might put her under more scrutiny…" She seemed to wince at the idea of Kagome being studied like a lab rat. "…but we might be doing more damage if we try to keep this a secret." For all they knew this could be irreparable.

"And what is it… that you hope to accomplish with this?" Shisui, even after hearing all of this, was still very much reluctant.

"We could find a way to maybe… truly help her. If her emotional turmoil is the source of some foreign power, then if she can learn to control it or maybe we could discover a way to heal it and then… she would be _cured_." Sakura's jade eyes were swimming with hope.

A long moment passed, Shisui stilled and his face fell into the apathetic slate that his cousins wore so well. "You can't heal… things like _that."_ If Kagome had witnessed but a fraction of what he and Itachi had, no amount of healing could reverse _that._ "You can't simply wish or heal or _cure_ trauma away…" Shisui's voice trailed hoarsely but then suddenly there was a sharpness to it that made Sakura tense under its edge. "You want her to be better? Stop wishing it, or pretending that it's just all going to magically disappear. Work with her, let her know someone is there for her and then maybe, _just _maybe she'll be able to cope better and start to open up." Shisui ran a frustrated hand through his darkly grizzled locks. "You don't recover from _that_… it never goes away and you're never same…ever."

Sakura uncurled her tight little fists that had been gripping her cheongsam. "I'm… sorry." She forced out.

A long and labored sigh came from the bulky Uchiha. "No, don't be." His voice was rough but quiet and gruffly tender. "You just don't understand is all…" Shisui's eyes lightened and that seriousness faded like receding storm clouds. "I mean, how could you? You've seen things… all shinobi have but in ANBU there is no ninja code or rules or morals… it's just you and your mission, if you have to die than you die… if you have to kill, you kill." Shisui gave a bitter smile and sour chuckle. "It doesn't sound that bad, but it's just… even when I'm with a full platoon, I can't shake the loneliness…" His attempt to explain to her was not lost, he could see her mind wrapping around his words as she tried desperately to gain some perspective.

Sakura bowed her eyes slightly. "Is that what Sasuke is going to feel?" She asked bleakly. It seemed so dark and desolate to be a part of _this._ Even with a full platoon, Shisui made it seem as if you were nothing, simply put: if you die… you die and no one thinks twice about you.

"Yeah, but that's why he has Chibs…" Shisui finally responded. "They trust each other, Itachi knows that and he trusts them both to watch each other's back when he can't."

And there it was the pure and simple answer in the smallest of words. "I don't know Shisui…" Sakura began. "I get what you are trying to say but I am going to report this to Tsunade-shishou… no matter what."

"Then why even consult me about it?" He didn't snap at her but he did just state the facts coldly. There was a distance growing in his eyes, one she felt that would crush her… "If you're so willing to give her up than why even bother wanting to know what I think?"

"_Because!"_ She hissed. "No one else seems to be noticing…"

"Noticing _what_?" There was venom in his voice and she couldn't help but flinch internally.

Her pale fingers were knotting and her words were rotting. "I just can't shake this feeling…"

Shisui's expression was twisting; he was getting fed up with this. _"What?"_ His tone made her jump and then sputter out the words out in a sentence of awkward consonants.

"That we're running out of time."

…

She was quite literally tucked away.

Swaddled in a red blanket that rivaled his umbrella in its redness, the only glimmer of her he saw was the soft crescent of her cheek and a tendril of ebony poking out from the blanket.

Slowly his hand pierced the air in its stillness and then grazed the soft red edge of the fabric. With the sunlight tingeing the edges and slanting across his fingertips the small creature swaddled in red stirred-

And then shot up with a gasp.

With small hands scrambling and petite limbs flailing there was a muffled sound that resembled a squealing grunt.

Itachi caught a single hand in his grasp firmly. "Kagome."

And the sprawling mass of limbs under the blanket stilled immediately.

Two eyes, glistening with murky depths of blue, poked out from the red hood. _"Itachi?"_ Hissed a very small voice.

Slowly, he nodded with his expression blank but his dark eyes sharp and searching. "…you were dreaming." His voice was deep and held that smooth tenor that he spoke eloquently.

A blink from the anomalous eyes and then a bob from the little lump of red. "I was… falling."

"And before that?" His voice softened into something so utterly still.

"I was… sitting by a koi pond." She'd had this dream many times before. With her mother's face always blurred but her kind voice always resonating with the rippling waves and the glistening fish…

_Kagome, oh why do you look so sad?_

"Kagome."

Her head snapped up and her pseudo cowl slipped to her shoulders. She blinked. "And then I fell in…and was drowning." Her voice was distant and too monotone. Her eyes came to his face, the morning sun was ablaze on it. His pale skin was lucent with the light while his eyes were hooded and his dark hair was unbound and sliding past his neck. "And… then I just fell." She added quickly, her eyes flitted downwards suddenly when the still calm settled on his face.

A fat square of a bandage blotched her left cheek, and with Kagome's eyes suddenly averted and fingers twisting into little knots; Itachi felt his eyes searching her meager shields that she had began to suddenly assemble. "What is your name?" His voice was so utterly still.

Her eyes shot up to meet his and with a question unspoken, she spoke meekly. "Higurashi Kagome…"

"Your age?" Perfectly smooth.

"Twel-"

"Birth date?" Precisely calculated with a sharpness gaining.

"Why are you asking me these things?" She hissed and realized that her hand was still very much caught in his grasp when she tried to back away.

His response never did come except for his smoldering gaze challenging the morning sun.

She ripped her palm out of his sharp fingertips. He sounded like Ibiki when she had had a few _setbacks_, his interrogations lashed out at basic information, confronting her to see if she was still _present_, still rational in this_ moment_. "Do you think I'm insane?" Her demanding tone held a fire that burned with disgust.

Something paused in his eyes, hesitated in his next words that were most likely heavily predetermined. And then, Itachi spoke with a sort reverence that bordered apologetic. "You… were _screaming_."

Her lips parted but no sound came out.

Itachi rescinded back from her, something acrimonious flitted across his lips and something terrifying pooled in his eyes. "You only stopped when… my eyes opened."

And then something truly slashed across those dark eyes and bled. Kagome only stared silently at the three tomoe swimming in carmine. Thin lashes framed his angled eyes as they blinked languidly in a beautiful motion to momentarily shield her from his Sharingan.

Ah, that's right. The moment right before all consciousness was leeched out of her. He had opened his eyes to reveal his Kekkei Genkai.

It was fascinating how even in the purest of morning light they didn't glow unnaturally or theatrically but rather laid in a despondent red that seemed dormant. A sleeping predator with fangs barely bared.

She blinked once more. How could something so marvelous and so wonderfully lethal seem so effortless? There had been nothing to fear. Not with him, not with _those_ eyes.

_Beautiful…_

Itachi suddenly stiffened, stilled even more so, and just as suddenly as it had come, the crimson light faded from its dark hearth. Apparently she had actually said that.

"Itachi…?" She asked suddenly but her voice had never held so much frailty.

Some sort of an resonant hum came from his chest.

"Do you really think I'm going insane?" It wouldn't be the first time someone had thought such a thing. It was one thing to panic over a comrade's impending death but it was another to scream psychotically and not recollect that at all.

Something soft melted on his cold countenance and formulated into one tender word. _"No."_

"Then don't interrogate me like my psychiatrist…" She snapped a bit too sharply. "I know who I am. I know where I am…" She trailed when Itachi's gaze did not falter.

_I know what I am._

"You were found in the market district this morning." He informed her solemnly.

"I- what?" She rasped.

"Covered in myblood, Haruno-san brought you back here..." Away from prying eyes and began to pick up the shattered pieces.

A few shuddering breaths passed between them with Itachi still and quiet with patience suddenly in his eyes.

"Sakura… she was here?" It was a muted statement as she looked down at her cleanly scrubbed hands. Not even a single speck of dirt lay on her palms. Then their eyes reconnected. "What… Why did you come here?" She demanded. "You should've gone to the hospital." Her voice was terribly weak and young sounding.

He said nothing to that. But his eyes did waver and not meet hers fully.

She felt something swelling in her chest and it was not pleasant.

It was noxious and bitter, quaking her ribs and making her throat throb. It was beyond frustration. It was beyond anger or despair. It was painful as it clawed at her heart and worsened, with the ache building and building…

And the more he stared, the worse it got.

It was guilt.

Kagome bit her lip and then _tried_ to push him away.

Which was actually easier said than done, because despite his trim frame he was quite unmovable when he wanted to be.

He leveled her with a stare that was dark with what seemed like annoyance or some sort of displeasure. He pushed her back with three very well placed fingers to her shoulder.

"_Why are you doing this?"_ She shot back through a strangled gasp. "You didn't have to rush back…" _I was fine. I was fine. I was fine._

His eyes spoke volumes as his fingers curled around her small shoulder. "I did." _You weren't._

She felt herself crumbling on the inside, it was her, it was her fault. Because she couldn't even get through one fucking night alone… he rushed back and he almost died… "I'm…" That was it. Whatever strength she had left it was waning.

He said nothing and that made it all the more worse.

Because he didn't need to hear it and because he was Uchiha Itachi and he didn't need apologies.

That was it.

That's when everything caved in on the inside and she simply buried herself into him. Because he was so utterly perfect and strong and everything she had ever admired…

Guilt was consuming her, among other things she couldn't quite grasp. It was how she could still smell blood on him and how so many other things were building in her that did it.

She felt her eyes brim with a wet sting.

She had just _hurt _the invincible… Something that seemed unforgivable.

She gave up after that and fell into the all encompassing space inside of her, where all her emotions swirled and clashed.

It felt a lot like drowning.

And in a way, she was.

…

_Okay, calm. _

Calm, yes, he was calm… calm as sea…with _no_ waves… "Fuck, I don't what the hell I'm doing…" Meditation was something he should've started practicing for times like _these._

Times when, the fox was _freaking_ the fuck out!

So now he was pacing frantically about his apartment because the fox was force feeding him with thoughts and influences and of course was almost screaming at him.

'_**Were you born with no senses?' **_Hissed a pair of fangs bared and scraping at the iron. _**'How can you not tell that there is-'**_

Shut up. _Shut up._ _**Shut up**_. "Shut up!" He screamed as the bars faded and the water receded and then he was standing in his apartment again.

Only to be forcefully pulled back into the dark front of a cage with red eyes…and… shit…

'_**Start moving kit before I tear you in half and drag you there myself-'**_

"_Seriously stop getting inside my head!"_ He hollered back at the massive beast leaning against the bars with fur gleaming like fresh blood and eyes afire. _"I'm not letting you near anyone!"_ The water rustled near his knees as he fought the stagnant liquid in a frustrated pace.

'_**Listen to me, you insolent whelp.'**_ Kyuubi's voice shook the bars and rattled his skull. _**'It won't last long, the essence will dissipate into nothingness if you don't get me to her.'**_

The talking in riddles and all this cliché puzzle talk was getting real fucking old. Naruto growled through clenched teeth as he repeated the hand signs Yamato-taichou had taught him whenever Kyuubi became unmanageable.

'_**I swear you don't do this and I'll kill y-'**_ A giant groan of metal deafened his ears as Kyuubi's cage twisted and receded back farther and farther into the darkness…

Dark wood twisted and coiled from the water's surface and knotted around the bars in gnarled roots. Coverings every space and drowning out the earth shattering roars from behind.

The last thing Naruto saw before the temporary seal took place was a single crimson eye glaring back at him and a whisper to follow it.

'_**I will speak with the pup, one way or the other.'**_

The only side effect to the temporary sealing was-

Yamato-taichou's face loomed in all its eeriness in his mindset.

"_Complete and total lack of consciousness…"_

Naruto was pulled back to his apartment.

"_Shit!"_

Only to face plant it onto the floor.

…

"_Kagome, Kagome…Oh why do you look so sad?"_

_She looked up to the woman. "Haha-ue?" She felt the coolness of the pond next to her, felt her smaller body and the slick grass beneath her knees. She felt herself sway towards the waters again…_

_A thin elegant hand grasped onto her this time. "Don't fall in again, Kagome… you can only fall so many times before you truly drown."_

"_Haha-ue… please."_

_Her mother's face was a blur, but she knew there was a sad smile there. "You can't stay." Silk rustles and she feels cold fingers brush her cheek. "You have to wake up."_

And she did.

Except this time, it was the sound of cloth being thrown to floor that woke her.

Kagome blinked, light pierced her eyes making them ache. It wasn't morning, but it wasn't exactly noon either.

She felt her weight on her stomach and chest. She was sprawled on her floor with a blanket she had never seen in her life thrown on top of her.

She blinked and sat up, had she fallen asleep again?

She felt better now...

Well, the world seemed a lot clearer than before she had slipped into unconsciousness. Yes, she felt better now.

She sighed, her thoughts were becoming redundant. Maybe she wasn't feeling quite _better._

She brought a hand out from under her and wiped her cheeks, they were dried with tears. Achingly she twisted her other limb and drew herself up from the ground. The blanket pooled around her like blood. She sat up and stood with red fabric crumpled in her fists. She walked with the red mantle dragging behind her.

She rounded the corner of her apartment's wall to see a desolate figure standing over her bed, glaring at the now stripped futon.

Itachi stood, wearing a dark shirt that was beyond shredded and stained with ANBU issued pants that were also quite tattered. He was barefoot as well, along with his armguards and vest discarded to the adjacent corner of the room. He stood starkly in the late morning light, with hair unbound and a pile of sheets lumped next to his feet.

Kagome saw his eyes briefly regard the stripped bed sheets. His arms were crossed with shoulder blades jutting beneath that shirt of his. His neck was craned in her direction, there was a definite tension in his posture. He looked thin, worn and pale. Stretched out and battered, it looked painful.

His eyes closed in self resignation and she actually saw a silent but noticeable sigh cross his lips and lift his ribs.

He didn't want her to see this…

Her eyes did anyway.

The sheets toppled over one another and were clouded red. Fringed pink on the rims and ruby at the heart and at times, scabbing brown.

Her breath caught, memories flooding back with those terrible emotions threatening to wash through and over her once more.

"I…" She wouldn't succumb to those dangerous waters again.

_Don't fall in again, Kagome… you can only fall so many times before you truly drown._

Itachi didn't move, but when his eyes did finally open they held something sinister. That blank slate he wore so well was but a thin veil to something she could only guess at. This mere glimpse held a dark rage that seemed to reason to frustration. To what was the cause of this sudden lash of emotion was unknown.

"I'm fine." She let out quickly, her voice was small and remarked her age.

That quelled it, whatever it was, in his eyes.

She shifted on the balls of her feet awkwardly. "You don't have to do that…" She trailed; really, she could clean her own sheets.

"I am… almost finished." He said quietly as his eyes dipped to the sheets.

"Almost finished?" She repeated. Finished with what? Her eyes were already peering about her flat, it was… _immaculate._

How long had she been asleep? She couldn't spot a speck of dust on her shelves or even a misplaced sock. He even threw away that dead plant in the corner! Kagome felt her cheeks bristle pink…

Uchiha Itachi had just cleaned her apartment…

Kami, how long had she been asleep? Had he just vacuumed around her while she was on the floor? Had he just washed all those dishes…? And she was pretty sure she had left a bra in her bathroom…

"And I must add…" He began, his voice was hinting and his eyes were narrowing at something…

Oh Kami, what did he find in the dark depths of her apartment?

Something white materialized in his grasp. "This particular article of clothing caught my interest."

Kagome blinked and sighed in relief. "Oh…"

His eyes flicked to her. "Oh?" He repeated with a raised brow. Was that indignation on his face?

"That's my dress… I wore it…" _When I was on a date with Konohamaru..._

She was not going to finish _that _particular sentence.

Itachi's eyes flitted back to the 'dress' in his grasp. He held it as if it might reach out and bite. Kagome watched as his eyes sharpened and regarded the white fabric strewn across his fingertips with a distasteful expression.

What was wrong with it? Sasuke shared the same adverse reaction, in fact he stripped down in broad daylight in an establishment that definitely upheld the 'no shirt, no shoes, no service' policy… and that was before he knocked Konohamaru unconscious… All so he could just cover her up.

Kagome's brow knitted together. They were alike in the most peculiar ways. "Well… you can just throw it in a corner… or something." She suggested weakly.

His brow remained raised and his eyes very intently focused. "It is… inappropriate."

Kagome gaped, he was planning something. "Sakura-san got it for me." She defended.

"Aa… that explains it then." He mused to himself with eyes still very much focused on the flimsy dress.

"Explains what?" She snapped back, but her questioned was never answered for she smelled smoke. "Is something burning?" She crinkled her nose and sniffed.

"Aa…"

Kagome face slacked as his hand flipped and let a pile of ash pour from his palm. "You…"

With a flick of the wrist he dusted off his hand in on fluid motion.

"…just incinerated my dress!" She squeaked.

He just stared blankly back.

"…Aa."

* * *

**Author's Note:** _-shrugs- Well I'm off to review R&R 'Rebirth' cause I think Crow is getting tired of my procrastinating...^^ ****__Anyone still reading this? __~KK_

* * *

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

45+ = _Thursday,_ **August 12**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **August 18 **(Three weeks)

20+= _Wednesday_, **September 22 **(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **October 20** (Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 96 hours. The date will be posted on Sunday, August 1.**_


	12. The Weasel and The Scarecrow

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

* * *

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

**Eastern Mountain Range, Tsuchi no Kuni**

**5 months ago...**

Another snag of the rope made her breath hitch.

"I told you over and over, Kikyo-san…if you keep on running, I'll keep on chasing, yeah."

Another yank and Kagome swore her lungs were going to collapse. "Don't you…" She gasped at the sudden tug. "…think tying me up is a bit…" She suddenly hiccupped at the tightness. "…theatrical?" She grimaced.

Deidara paused and his face popped up from behind her. "No." He said with a devilish gleam and fire-lit shadows dancing over his face. "I have to tie you up nice and snug so I can patch you up and make sure you don't try to make a run for it _again,_ un." And he ducked back behind her so that her hands were crossed across the back of her ribs, any channeled Wind chakra would not only slice the ropes at this moment but also her heart along with the rest of her chest cavity. Deidara was quite clever, crazy, but clever nonetheless.

She let a moan of pain pass through her lips.

Deidara paused. "Gomen ne, Kikyo-san but you must keep still until I can look at your wounds, yeah."

She knew the ritual: capture her, drag her back, patch her up, wait, run away, chase, capture...

"I won't be able to channel… chakra through a shattered hand…Deidara." She murmured between gasps with a wan smile.

"It doesn't look broken, yeah." She felt a prod to her left palm.

"Other…" She managed to get out and then grimaced when Deidara pestered the twisted and split lump of flesh that was used to be her fully functional hand.

"Hm, guess you won't be using your short-sword, anytime soon." Deidara mused as he slowly stripped it off her back. It landed with a clatter on stone as it slipped out of its sheath. "That's what you get though, Kikyo-san, for trying to spring something on me like that, hm."

Kagome breathed audibly, with eyes focusing on the measly fire Deidara had scrounged together in this land of rocks and stone and snow. "I hit you though." She quipped back with a smirk.

Deidara gave his usual grunt of agreement. "You were practically flying, yeah! Of course you hit me. Clipped my wing and went tumbling down along with you, un."

Kagome's simpered deepened. "That was the whole point." She leaned her head back and set a fresh look at the stars poking through the rocky frame of the outcropping Deidara (with her in tow) had taken shelter in. The altitude of these mountains made the air thin and her lungs ache, but it was a safe haven at the moment, no one dared these mountains in the winter, lest they wanted to be caught in blizzard that would prove lethal. Crisp and clear, the chilling winter night was ablaze with a sea of the little twinkling blots.

"The fresh snow will hide our tracks." Deidara murmured next to her neck as he loosed her right hand tenderly.

Kagome hissed in pain as the stemmed blood flow came back, renewed and hot against her numbed skin. "Ah… you're from Earth, right?" He divulged a little here and there and if what he said was true, Tsuchi Hunter-nin would be on their tails soon if they didn't move. They would have already been at their doorstep by now, if it wasn't for the deathtrap that was these mountains and the fact that it still was winter.

Deidara grunted. "So you were listening, yeah."

"Of course." That was the whole blasted reason of taking the month long side trip to Tsuchi no Kuni. So that Deidara wouldn't follow her into the wasp's nest of where he was the most wanted man alive _and_ leave her be.

Unfortunately, she had misjudged the terrorist once _again_ and found that of all people he loved to kill, it was the Tsuchi-nin he reveled in the most. Especially the few ANBU she had backtracked on so that Deidara would be forced to engage them while she had made her escape.

But Deidara always killed them, always found her and always captured her in the end.

"It was a good plan, yeah." Deidara assured as he assessed the damage of her hand. The fingers were a contorted mess and the torn muscle and ripped tendons were swelling, making the bruised skin burst at the seams. The blood was frozen and coagulating, but when he moved it ever so slightly, it cracked open and the fresh streams flowed once more. It was like someone had spattered red and black ink over her milky white skin. "But there are very few people I don't want to test my art on, yeah."

"Like me." She snubbed.

He grunted and she could practically hear that smirk of his. "You're making it difficult though."

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered as she felt sudden warmth course over her hand.

She felt Deidara shrug behind her, with his clay wrapping around her small palm and fingers to make the resetting less painful. "You remind me of someone."

"I do?" She quirked her neck instinctively toward him, the ropes whined at the sudden movement but her eyes were straining to meet his. Her eyes were glistening in the fire light, like embers darkened by the ocean depths.

He nodded with his usual grunt and continued. "This will hurt a bit, yeah. Your bones are healing too fast and are not in the right place."

Kagome nodded. "Do it."

And with a silent command, the clay re-shattered her hand.

* * *

**-Chapter Twelve-**

The Weasel and The Scarecrow

* * *

_-I never liked you because you're a devil,_

_but then again, so am I._

…

For being such an enigma, Itachi could be fairly predictable when something had not gone according to plan.

For there was only one thing the Uchiha Prodigy could do when something, of this _caliber,_ had happened.

"I knew I'd find you here."

_Brood._

And so he was, dark and shadowed like a raven perched on the edge of Konoha's western wall, Itachi looked out and over their village with dark eyes hooded and pooling with thought. He didn't respond to his cousin, naturally. Itachi usually wandered off when things went wrong and when he did, there was a very good reason for the isolation.

Emotion was always a hindrance, frustration being the most irksome, if Shisui could take a guess.

If Itachi was frustrated, which took _a lot,_ than there was only one way for a predator like him to vent such emotion.

And that possibility, was just spine chilling to Shisui.

Hence the isolation, for Itachi knew this about himself, he knew he could take a life just as easily as snapping a twig and there was a deep, dark and indulgent satisfaction in that.

If anything, Itachi wanted to take his mind off the emotion as swiftly as possible, before things got… _bloody._

Or at least this was what Shisui had guessed and so, as he approached with caution, he took in the sight of his cousin. "You look like shit."

Itachi didn't move, still as statue, he was hunched on the concrete precipice watching as the morning melted off of their village and took on the first tendrils of afternoon light.

Shisui settled down beside him, his looming form hunched over a bit awkwardly as his towering size clashed easily with Itachi's lithe silhouette. They sat there for a few moments, taking in the stillness of the air, with their breaths breaking it, the peace in this moment was fleeting. They both knew it.

Shisui could say a thousand other things, but he knew what his cousin needed to hear, the only thing he would even attempt to respond to.

Because everything else was insignificant.

Their thoughts fell into alignment when Shisui spoke in a somber tone. "How is she?"

Itachi's dark eyes dipped to the ground. His bangs fell past in a movement Shisui had not seen; as Itachi almost bowed his gaze away so subtly it might as not even happened.

"She is… unstable, Shisui." His words were quiet and heavy.

"Yeah… Pinky said something about that…" Shisui ran a hand over his scalp and through his charcoal colored hair as Sakura's words reverberated back to him.

'_You know, when I found her… she felt hollow, like she lost a part of herself…'_

Itachi's eyes slid over to Shisui, whose own silence was uncharacteristic and even a little perturbing.

"What… what was she like?" Shisui averted his gaze as his face fell even further.

Itachi's eyes lifted away from his cousin and met the blaring sky unflinchingly. "She wakes… _often_… then falls back into unconsciousness. She never sleeps, just…" He never finished.

Shisui nodded, she was falling in and out of consciousness out of exhaustion. It was a primary symptom of chakra depletion, but Sakura had said Kagome's own chakra had been untouched and once more, Itachi's had been replenished.

Whatever had been depleted, it wasn't chakra and it was affecting her more severely.

"Pinky is going to report this to the Hokage." When Itachi didn't respond he continued. "She thinks this is a form of some Kekkei Genkai that Chibi can't control and is causing some harm to her."

"It would be selfish to do otherwise." Itachi's words were edged and curt.

A scowl threaded itself on Shisui's brow. "Do you have any idea what will happen? She'll be put under a fucking microscope until they find something and they won't stop until they do."

Itachi turned to Shisui, met his gaze with his own dark glower and placid front. "Letting a wound fester, _Shisui_...would inevitably cause greater harm."

Shisui sighed harshly. "You're all alike; you're too scared to actually trust her."

Itachi said nothing. _Again._

"You want her to start trusting you, _truly_ trusting you? Then don't throw her to the dogs and expect them to have her best interests at hand." Shisui's jaw clenched as he gripped Itachi's shoulder roughly. His cousin didn't even spare him a glance. "Do you have any idea what they will find?"

"I do." He said it quietly as his eyes were still blank and unreadable.

"What are you talking about? If you know about some dormant bloodline trait then you need to tell me because we'll need each other to keep this a secret." Shisui's grasp heightened as did his insistent nudges. "Miraculous healing just doesn't go unnoticed. What happens when other countries find out, when common people do? Sick people?"

A new Kekkei Genkai would be a dangerous thing, countries would seek her out, even fight over it, if it proved powerful enough. Healing was just as dangerous as any other weapon. If Kagome proved to be a miraculous healer without using a drop of chakra…

It would make Konoha invincible, a village with no fear of injury or death.

Conflict would be inevitable with this new covetable ability; people would swarm her to heal them, to be their miracle…

She would be sought out beyond moderation; it would be a cascading effect, one that would inescapably lead to chaos. She would be overextended beyond exaggeration, used for what she was.

"She'll become a tool, Itachi." His words were edged but there was an instruction in his voice.

Shisui's hand grasped air suddenly, just as Itachi lay out of reach with fingers laced beneath his lips and dark eyes always searching. "We all are, in the end, _Shisui_."

"Don't give me that ambiguous bullshit, what the hell do you know?" His chiseled jaw set itself sternly as his deep set eyes narrowed.

Lithe and perched over the village, as one of its many silent guardians, he locked gazes with his cousin. "This goes beyond us, Shisui."

"And…?" Shisui began impatiently.

"She speaks in her dreams." His lips barely moved.

"Cut the shit and get to the point."

Itachi said it so suddenly and with such a chilling calmness, that Shisui could only gape.

"She only spoke once of Uchiha Madara."

Shisui stood abruptly with his hand cascading over his scalp in a nervous manner. He paced frantically. "He's dead, Itachi. He's fucking dead." He spoke out viciously.

Itachi remained silent, his eyes back on the lambent village below his feet.

"What did she say? How did she know _that _name?" There had to be something else, but the possibilities were surmounting and none were comforting.

"I found her…" _Asleep, dreaming, screaming._ "As she relived the murder of her family while she slept." His voice was just above a whisper.

"So you woke her?" Shisui groaned, only imagining how Itachi had used that moment to sufficiently get that particular name from her lips. "This is fucking bad… like beyond bad," His pacing was frantic. "You don't just say 'Madara murdered my family' and go on with your life… fuck-" Shisui let a stream of curses hiss through his teeth.

"There is more, Shisui." Itachi added sharply, commanding his attention.

Translation: _It gets worse._

"Oh, no, no, no…" Shisui begged, his anxiety getting the best of him.

"Have you… become aware of Kyuubi's _fluctuations_?" He chose his words carefully, testing his distressed cousin.

"Uh…" He paused and let his senses stretch. "Doesn't he always do that?" He guessed frustratingly. He didn't care about any demon host at the moment. The Kyuubi brat would always let the demon's chakra slip every once in awhile but at the moment his chakra signature did seem a bit… frenetic. If he remembered, the Jinchuuriki's signature had been quite squelched earlier. Such drastic _fluctuations _were not exactly _healthy_ for the seal.

"The fluctuations are quite coincidental." Itachi mused with sharp eyes slicing over the horizon.

"I guess…" Except there was one problem, Itachi didn't believe in coincidences, hell, he didn't even believe in fate. All he knew were facts and the facts were surmounting and everything was revolving around one very petulant and wickedly smart little girl. "You're thinking the demon, as in the slobbering, growling, tail-whipping_ beast, _is reacting to chibi?" He asked incredulously.

Of course he responded with a very nonchalant, "possibly."

"What else are you putting together in that head of yours? Because I don't like what I'm thinking…"

"And what exactly is that, Shisui?" His voice was light, again in that mocking apathy, he used when he was pulling someone along.

"People blamed the Uchiha for the Kyuubi attack, years ago… now all of sudden, Madara's name starts popping up and I'm supposed to just ignore it?"

"You are following pointless rumors, Shisui." Itachi warned coolly. Ever since the Kyuubi had attacked nearly sixteen years ago, conspiracy theories had been flying like kunai. It had only just been recently in the past few years that they had died down. Everyone knew of the great tales of how Uchiha had the mastery of manipulating any being, even a demon, within just a_ blink_ of the eye.

Only this, could be accomplished by a powerful Uchiha.

Even so, even with the Kyuubi's coincidental reactions to Kagome's healing and Madara's name brushing past her lips just mere nights before… Even with all that, it was still…

"There is a connection, Itachi. Even you can't deny that." Shisui cut in. "We can't waste our time fucking around with the Hokage, trying to get her to use her…" He didn't even know what she had. "…abilities. We need to keep this quiet, get the Kyuubi host away from her and watch her to make sure she keeps… whatever ability she has, _dormant_."

Itachi was standing before Shisui could even blink, with his back to him and silhouetted starkly by the sun, he spoke crisply. "We have no concept of what we are up against… in order to combat the unknown, we must prepare a solution for every outcome." He turned slightly to his cousin, with only the crescent of his pallid cheek and fringes of lashes visible. "Lying in wait will only postpone the inevitable, Shisui." The words rolled fluidly off his tongue.

It all started with the Hokage, get her familiar and onboard so that they could use her as a resource. However the Hokage would require to examine Kagome which would only lead to more… "I still don't like it, her Kekkei Genkai is our least concern right now." Especially with all this dead Uchiha and fox beastie business flying about. "The Hokage has a duty to the village before our wellbeing; she is sworn to examine all avenues of potential power for the sake of the village." And Kagome was one of the avenues, one that actually held something of value. And she would be exploited once that was discovered.

Itachi's response was sharp. "I do not care for any Kekkei Genkai that she may have a _mere _chance of possessing."

Shisui's brow furrowed. "Then what then? What do actually want to find out, that is worth risking her wellbeing and final shred of normalcy?"

"Her memories." He said it under the current of the breeze soughing between them.

Her memories were the key to everything. "She was… young, Itachi." Shisui muttered tenderly, almost seeing his cousin's venture a lost hope.

She was but a toddler when she was found, covered in blood and at the bottom of an old well that lay on the edge of the Nara herding grounds. Discarded like a corpse from a murder.

It didn't matter though, for within those short fleeting years lay something priceless.

_Answers._ "In order to finish something, Shisui… you must know how it begins."

Shisui sighed in resignation. "_Fine._ But how are you going to make her remember?"

"There are… methods." Whether it was the mind reading techniques of the Yamanaka clan or the hypnotizing abilities of his own, he would find a way.

"She may hate you after this." Shisui warned seriously, with dark eyes hardening and every inch of him not liking the idea.

"_Then let her."_ The end result would be far more beneficial than for her to be blissfully ignorant and wandering through life with no means to protect herself from her own past.

"How much do you want her to remember?" Shisui asked a bit too sharply.

He would have no reservations.

"_Everything."_

…

"…and so after that, I left and hurried over to report you as soon as possible, Shishou."

Sakura shuffled awkwardly on the balls of her feet, finding it hard not to fidget with her Hokage's hard gaze on her and the hot sun blaring as a blinding halo behind Tsunade.

Tsunade laced her fingers under her chin. "It's nearly midday Sakura, you obviously are not telling me where you were during the time gap."

"Oh, I got breakfast."

"Sakura, I sent ANBU out immediately once the survivors of Itachi's platoon reported back in. I've already known about Itachi being alive for quite some time now." Tsunade leveled with a hooded gaze. "He has been under surveillance to the best of our ability for the past few hours and by that alone, you should have already assumed that _you_ were also cast under that watch."

Sakura sighed and confessed to what her Shishou already knew. "Alright, I asked Uchiha Shisui for advice."

"Advice on what?" Tsunade's eyes softened a bit as she brushed a cluster of parchments aside.

"On…" She trailed, her jade eyes wilting away from a direct gaze. "…whether or not to come and consult you about…about Kagome's… _condition."_

Tsunade sat back with a bit of resignation. "He advised against it." She assumed a bit too knowingly.

Sakura gulped and just fidgeted a bit more before giving a frail shrug.

"It grieves me when my own Shinobi have to debate on whether to come to me or not…" Tsunade whispered to herself.

"Shishou, it's not that we don't trust you… it's just that you're a leader before being _our _Hokage."

Tsunade nodded. "I understand your concerns, Sakura. Kagome's condition is a matter of precedence, one that can be easily exploited but also must be dealt with."

"This _healing_, it's hurting her, Shishou." Sakura murmured as she looked sullenly to the floor. "It makes her unstable and just… _empty."_

"Then I highly doubt it is healing, maybe on the surface it may appear to be that way but it could be something much more lethal." Tsunade was scanning through a few scrolls before her. "I'll have to conduct a few studies on her…" Her eyes lingered on her apprentice, who physically grimaced. "Sakura, listen. Nothing invasive will be done to her, just a few subtle observations. She is a valued shinobi of Konoha, not a lab rat."

"I…I understand, Shishou."

"Good." Tsunades eyes placed themselves back on scrolls in front of her. "We just need open communication, Sakura. The more open we are with each other, the better we can keep our interests the same."

Sakura nodded. "Is there anything I can do, Shishou?"

Tsunade didn't respond right away, with her eyes edging the end of her sentence before focusing on her apprentice once more. "You can do what you always do, Sakura."

Sakura prepared herself for the disparaging remark.

"Research."

Sakura's form slackened quite a bit.

"Find what you can on parasitic jutsu, one that can draw on not only an enemy but also on oneself. It's a start, if nothing else. Look into a few side effects as well, Sakura." Tsunade resumed her perusals.

Sakura bowed silently and turned meekly to the doorway.

"And Sakura-?"

She paused at her name, looking back at her Shishou with wide emerald eyes.

"Stay away from Uchiha Shisui, will you?" There was no request in that statement, just an order. "He's one of our main suspects concerning the ambush that nearly killed Itachi."

Sakura bristled at that. "He would never-"

"I don't want you around him, Sakura. For Kami's sake, he's too old for you anyways." Tsunade added lightly.

Sakura just stood numbly at that, her cheeks trickling pink.

Tsunade smirked. "Don't worry, the chance of him being a treasonous bastard aren't all that high… but still, he's a bad influence on you… you reek of alcohol." Tsunade chastised. "Now go, before I assign you to medical inventory."

"Hai!" And with that Sakura bowed swiftly and was gone.

…

Noon came swiftly enough, with a sharp heat cutting away a damp morning and settling on their backs. A weak breeze, warm and rough brushed his neck as he sat in the wilting grass before a silver haired Jounin with one Sharingan staring back lambently. Sasuke sent a chilled glance to his sensei as he felt the initial flare of chakra.

"Hands down, Sasuke." Kakashi instructed as he shuffled uncomfortably and tall summer grass twitched on his masked chin. "Focus." His voice clipped. This was no combat exercise and although it was a bit awkward, there was no reason for such tension. Honestly, his brooding lil' protégée was practically glaring at him and looked like he was just inching to hit him.

Kakashi watched as Sasuke's palms fell stubbornly to his lap. "Where am I targeting?"

Sasuke's lids fell into glower before shutting completely. This was one of the most frustrating things he had been required to practice, to date. "My skull." He let it roll off the tongue drawlingly.

"Focus, Sasuke. _What _am I targeting?"

He felt Kakashi's chakra signature pulsing and even outstretching towards him, but he hadn't the faintest idea of what exactly he was trying to target. From what he knew of Genjustu, he did the most practical thing he could, without looking like a senseless fool. "Frontal lobe." He _guessed._

Immediately Kakashi sighed and withdrew chakra and all. He sighed with a hand running over his scalp simultaneously. It was probably easier to train a log how to sense chakra within their brain than it was to train his usually astute and perceptive student.

Apparently, Kagome had been right in her assumption that Genjutsu was Sasuke's weakness.

"No, Sasuke." He murmured. "My chakra was threaded throughout your entire nervous system, along with your occipital and parietal lobes _only_… you should have felt every inch of your tissue crawling with my chakra."

Sasuke blinked, eyes distant.

Kakashi sighed, when Sasuke got frustrated, he usually settled into a nasty fit of silence and would later snap at Naruto through physical mishaps during spars. "Sasuke, you must understand that you may never be able to master Genjutsu." He just needed to become less susceptible to it. From what he was told, he went down like a rock when he was collected by ANBU and once more when Kagome had put him under _and then_ failed to break out of it for at least a half a day.

Kakashi sighed once again, feeling the sharp blade of heat edge its way down his back and spark the flame of irritation.

Which was mirrored by his brooding apprentice. "Then this is all pointless…" Sasuke remarked a bit sharply. What was the point of learning something if you wouldn't have a chance at mastering it?

"This is not supposed to add to your own personal arsenal, Sasuke…" He lectured as he settled his masked chin in his palm. "This exercise is meant to eliminate a weakness, once that is done, you will be fit for ANBU."

"I am already an enlisted member." Sasuke's jaw was clenched.

"On paper, but they can and will postpone any missions that head your way for years if they feel you are not ready."

Sasuke looked away from Kakashi, he was beyond struggling with this new concept of sensing internal chakra fluctuations. He was not even grasping the smallest of inklings of how to accomplish it.

"A Sharingan is as much a strength, as it is a weakness." Kakashi spoke steadily, he knew him having the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai was a sore subject and Sasuke was always a bit irked that he knew more than he did of his own Bloodline Limit. "Its sensitivity to Genjutsu specifically, is the issue here, Sasuke. Either it can become a masterful weapon or it can be hindered and ultimately susceptible to the Genjutsu." Which was exactly the case _here._

"Can it be reversed?" Sasuke asked seriously, arms buried in the sleeves of his gaping haori, which revealed his freshly bound chest.

"Fully?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Possibly, but you need to learn how to sense internal chakra fluctuations, not just the signatures they give off. This is something that can't be truly explained, just as your senses were self taught, this will be no different." It sounded like more of a warning.

"And until then?" Sasuke eyes were half lidded and his voice fluid.

"We progress." Kakashi quipped.

"Kagome should be doing this." Sasuke informed his sensei very pointedly with eyes cast off.

Kakashi brushed off that little miff. "Excluding the fact that neither one of your teammates is here at the moment and your _Captain_ is too busy to grace us with her presence…" Kakashi leaned in and tapped his little apprentice on the nose. "You're stuck with me." His eyes crinkled with his masked smile and Sasuke felt his eyes sharpen at his sensei's quip, that is until-

A bellow stretched across the length of the training glade.

"_Kakashi-sensei!"_

Kakashi stood immediately, with Sasuke muttering. _"Dobe…"_

"Ah, Naruto." Kakashi greeted his rambunctious student coolly as the blonde flickered before him in an orange flash. "Glad to see you decided to join us." Kakashi's tone was much too light.

"Yeah, well I'm not staying." He added rashly. "I need to know where Yamato-taicho is?"

A moment passed between the three, the starker pair observed their brighter comrade. Naruto's eyes were flittering about, looking everywhere but directly at Kakashi.

Sasuke eyes narrowed at the sight.

Something was off.

"He's been out of country for over a month now, Naruto." Kakashi informed him smoothly. The question in the air was evident. "Why? Are you having trouble?"

Naruto eyes iced over as he straightened. "Yeah, I'm having some fucking trouble." He snapped his lips curling into a snarl.

Sasuke was standing with his fingers brushing the sheath of his weapon. "Kakashi." He awaited his sensei's next move. If Naruto was starting to get violent…

Kakashi maneuvered himself in between his two students, with Sasuke frustrated and Naruto feral, a fight was bound to break out. "Naruto, is Kyuubi active?"

Naruto's eyes darted over to Kakashi to Sasuke, glared and then back to his sensei. Then, he nodded.

"Did you use the temporary sealing?" Yamato had substituted in his absence many times and even trained with Naruto in methods for better control of Kyuub's influence. Temporary sealing was all Naruto could manage under tense situations concerning the demon. But it was but a band aid to a gaping wound.

Naruto was looking past them, eyes steely and wandering over the fringes of their training ground where the forest bordered and prickled past. He nodded again, eyes narrowing at nothing.

"Is it still active?" Kakashi questioned briskly. Naruto remained tense and gaze preoccupied. "Naruto."

He snapped up at his name, eyes flashing. "No." He muttered.

"I'll inform the Hokage, Naruto. Until then, don't overextend your chakra reserves and keep relatively… _calm."_ He ruffled the teenager's blonde hair who was threatening at almost his height.

Naruto huffed. He knew what was meant, he was supposed to stay and do _nothing._ "Where's Kagome?" He asked suddenly, eyes peering about.

Kakashi shrugged.

Sasuke stepped forward, waist deep in golden grass and sun darkening his eyes, he looked out of place. "She's not with you?" He asked lowly.

"No, Teme obviously she's not. I thought she was with you or Sakura, but Sakura's gone and you have been just sitting around."

Sasuke stiffened but kept silent at that. The idiot was obviously bothered about being knocked out from the sealing the fox had cornered him into.

He wasn't in the rights of mind.

Naruto turned without a word and flickered out of sight just as suddenly as he had appeared.

Kakashi let his eyes linger on the vacant space and as he ran a hand through his silver locks, he sighed. "I need to address a few matters, Sasuke." He said lightly as he turned to the young Uchiha. He sent him an eye crinkling smile and as he masked his Sharingan with one lax wave, "ja," he was gone.

…

"I have already been informed of the situation, Uchiha." Tsunade sent a hard look at the rather tattered looking Uchiha. His clothes and ANBU gear were shredded and matted deeply with blood but the Uchiha himself was unharmed save for the rather ghostly complexion he was casting, along with the fact that he looked a bit thinner than usual.

"Then you have already surmised the severity of the situation."

"I wouldn't exactly call it severe, there is nothing that is harming her at this very second." Tsunade looked over a few more parchments, amber eyes perusing complacently. "However, it is on our priority list to monitor Kagome's behaviors so that we can avoid…these situations."

"This situation was preventable." He admitted, his face was sunken in and his eyes took on a grim light.

"Hai, it was. Though you have stated she has gotten over her fear of the Sharingan, I believe the outcome does not outweigh the means this time." Tsunade traced a lacquered nail over several hiragana as she did not meet the Uchiha's smoldering gaze. "You acted on impulse, Itachi, something that will not go unpunished. Your actions _will_ be submitted to the council for review and you _will_ face the consequences accordingly."

Itachi said nothing, not even the slightest of facial twitch could be seen. He was but a blank slate, an immaculate shinobi in a bloodied and torn shell. "There is… _another_ matter I wish to bring to your attention, Hokage-sama."

"And that is?" Her eyes were still focused on the scrolls splayed before her.

"The Kyuubi is reacting to Higurashi Kagome."

"Reacting?" She glanced up then.

"The Kyuubi's activities have become much more current as of late."

"And you believe Naruto's state is the result of the demon being around Kagome?" She had noticed, but these bouts were to be expected in Jinchuuriki. Especially with Naruto's seal, which was specifically designed for him to be able to access the Kyuubi's chakra, but at his own expense.

Itachi nodded latently. "I have been… monitoring the situation for quite some time, Hokage-sama."

"Of course you have." She rolled her eyes. "And when did this all begin?"

"I believe it was Kyuubi's influence that brought to Naruto-kun's association with her."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose as she rescinded fully back in her chair. "From the beginning, that's what you mean." Tsunade rubbed her temples. "This is what brought on your sudden interest in her?"

Itachi said nothing, just stared blankly back at Tsunade, with eyes unflinching and utterly black.

"There is a reason you're here." The Godaime stated with eyes hardening and hands knotting. "Everyone else seems so concerned with some Kekkei Genkai that Kagome may possess, but _you, _you are always ahead of the game. So tell me Itachi, what do you want?"

"The possibility of Higurashi-san possessing a Kekkei Genkai is slim." He began and when the Hokage didn't respond he continued. "No chakra was used in this… _incident_."

"You're assuming this has nothing to do with bloodline limits or chakra, that's… quite a leap." Tsunade brooded on this. "Her history is so unknown to us, so we cannot rule out the possibility that her own basic energy flow is also unlike anything we have ever seen."

"Higurashi-san was never meant to be a shinobi."

Tsunade nodded. "I agree with you on that, everything from her character to how her body reacts, opposes anything violent. However, until we can identify what she has, we shall specify that it is a Kekkei Genkai that we are trying to find, for the Kagome's sake." Kami only knew what the council would do if Kagome proved to be something else entirely. "Now, what is it that you wish for us to truly work on? Seeing as you also deem a Kekkei Genkai as insignificant."

"Memories."

Tsunade nodded grimly. "Then we both have been on the same track for some time then." Her chair swiveled, the sun cast her in a dark shadow but her eyes met the light unflinchingly. "I've been meaning to delve into Kagome's past for quite some time, but Shikaku advised against it… just like everything else." She muttered the last bit. "Speaking of Nara…"

Itachi's foot slid upside to the other suddenly, he stood just a tad straighter.

Tsunade raised a brow at his sudden movement. "Shikamaru discovered Kagome's current choice of company recently when he was investigating into your ambush." Recent acquaintances would have been taken into account with such a violent attack on his squad, and Kagome was one of those recent associations.

It didn't sit well with him, to say the least.

Tsunade knew he was a prodigy, she knew of his strengths and his skills. But she was much more experienced and she could always read people, to an extent; no matter how miniscule it was, there was something smoldering in those eyes. Something that he would never be able to hide.

His voice was water on ice, smooth and cold. "Is there a need for concern?"

Tsunade chuckled. "I wouldn't underestimate Shikamaru or Shikaku, Itachi. Just know that you've been sniffed out and the dogs will come barking soon enough." Shikamaru would most likely be dismissed but Shikaku was the Jounin Commander, his authority even reached within ANBU ranks.

He bowed his head slightly; eyes hooded and lashes edging out like fine blades. "I will take this into account."

Again the Godaime chuckled. Itachi's actions were always flawless, leaving no grounds to ban him from Kagome's vicinity but left plenty for suspicion. "Good. Now I will contact a few to see what can be done about Kagome's memories, until then, we will keep in touch and I will let you know when it is time to proceed."

"And the Kyuubi, Hokage-sama?" His voice was light then, hinting and laden with ulterior motives.

"Ah, yes, Naruto." The fox was reacting; it was not healthy for both the mental state of the Jinchuuriki or the strength of the seal. "You're going to eventually suggest a separation."

"It would be advisable." There was such a stillness to him, it was inhuman.

"Do you even realize the reactions that will invoke?" Tsunade smirked. "Aggravating Naruto any further is not an option, nor is letting this fester. I will call in Jiraiya since he has been reported in country and he will determine the seal's current state…" She mulled over it. "That is, until Tenzo is able to return from his mission and get a grip on the situation."

"And until then, Hokage-sama?" He pressed again but to her his words always seemed effortless.

Hard amber eyes blinked for a moment. "I will monitor the situation, Itachi." She stressed again somewhat stunned at how much he was pushing this. "ANBU will be fit enough to check in on their rounds and report to me if the fluctuations become more erratic. If they do… then a separation will be enacted." Tsunade assured him, something was softer in her voice but her eyes were wary.

"My own squad will be able to monitor the situation much more fully." Itachi suggested.

Tsunade's jaw slacked. "Your entire squad?" It was true they would be off the roster for quite a time but Itachi's full platoon consisted of three squads plus his own personal unit. Twelve ANBU was… "Ridiculous. Absolutely not, we only need one, if that."

Itachi nodded slightly. "Then may I suggest one of my own?" His voice was losing its grimness and gaining its usual light velvet tenor that could be easily taken for arrogance.

"Who?" She drawled.

"My newly appointed second, Sai."

Tsunade couldn't suppress the chuckle. "Alright, though I believe your facts are for once, missing a vital piece of information." Sai, if that was even his name, was relatively emotionless and unflinchingly loyal to Itachi. To say Itachi trusted him, would be a bit stretched. Sai was obviously placed by Danzo within ranks to keep an eye on the Uchiha but that didn't mean Itachi didn't have his uses for him.

Itachi's neck straightened as he fixed the Hokage with a look that held a question.

Tsunade smirked, ah, predictable and harmless Sai was probably not the best choice as Itachi had originally thought. "Kagome and Sai, have actually a bit of history."

And that's when Itachi blinked. _Twice._

"It's nothing, really just an unspoken arrangement they had while Kagome was in ANBU." Tsunade rolled up a scroll and wrapped it in a binding.

A knock, subtle and familiar rapped on the door suddenly followed by the whine of an opening door and a meek Shizune popping in. "Tsunade-sama?"

"What is it, Shizune?"

"Hatake Kakashi is here to see you."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Of course he would be, send him in."

Shizune bowed and made way for the silver haired Jounin who ambled right up to the still Uchiha.

"Ah, Itachi-kun." He greeted him lightly with eyes crinkling. "It is good to see you alive and well."

"And you, Kakashi-san." Itachi nodded in his direction politely.

Tsunade eyed the two of them, there was a static in the air, the bristle before a clash. Kakashi stood too laxly next to his former ANBU teammate and Itachi was too composed for it to be natural. "Kakashi, I already know why you are here."

"You do?" Kakashi shoved a hand into his right pocket as he completely disregarded the black hole in the room, aka: Itachi.

"Yes, the Kyuubi has been acting out lately and we believe that it corresponds with Kagome's recent activities concerning Itachi's miraculous recovery."

"I apologize, but I don't follow." Kakashi's single grey eye remained hooded and laced with disinterest but in its depths lay intrigue.

Tsunade theatrically smacked her forehead. "Of course, of course. You don't know. Kagome healed Itachi last night and brought him from the brink of death."

"Astonishing." He drawled. "I didn't know she was such a proficient healer."

"That's the problem, Kakashi. She's not."

"Again, I don't follow." He ran a fingerless gloved hand through his silver locks.

"She didn't use any chakra, but the healing or whatever it was, left very negative side effects."

"I see." He did not dwindle on the details. "A dormant Kekkei Genkai perhaps?"

"That is what we originally assumed but we have currently deemed it as unlikely."

"Not necessarily." Kakashi quipped. "There are plenty of abilities that draw on other sources of energy besides chakra. And Kagome-san is reaching puberty, this could be a marker for the ability to surface, similarly to the Sharingan." The Jounin faced the ANBU Captain. "Wouldn't you agree, Itachi-kun."

"The Sharingan is activated through a near death experience, age is merely relative." Itachi's eyes were distant but his lecture held a crisp chill at the edges.

"It is still seen as a coming age in your Clan and what I have said should be considered heavily." Kakashi quipped as he found his cuticles more interesting.

"It will, Kakashi. But that still doesn't change our goals." Tsunade shot in, mediating almost and bringing attention back onto her.

"And those would be?" Kakashi gazed back up, his tenor polite but reserved.

"Memories, Kagome's memories hold the key to everything."

"Ah, but those will be difficult to unlock."

"Go on."

"Trauma is but a rudimentary block for memories, it does not usually induce full-blown amnesia. Whatever is blocking her memories… it is much more than a mere mental scar."

"This is true. However the only thing of that magnitude I can think of is a seal of some sort."

"Ah, but all seals weaken over time and I do believe Kagome-san's memories have been leaking past recently." Kakashi turned to the smaller teen, eyes resigned and almost dismissive. "Or am I mistaken, Itachi-kun?"

"Hai, that is correct." He spoke smoothly after a pregnant pause. His eyes slid to the side, smoldering orbs of obsidian appraising the Jounin. "Kakashi-san."

Black and grey, aside one another. One so incredibly immense and the other a mere washed out version. But both were impossible to see through.

"That is something to seriously consider, Kakashi. If one seal is binding her memories, then we must approach this with caution." Kami only knew what type of defenses the seal might have or even if there was more than one. "We don't know what else we will find." Tsunade sighed. "Alright, until Jiraiya gets in to evaluate the situation, Kakashi-"

His head lolled up at his name.

"Your team is going to be monitored by ANBU Officer, Sai." Tsunade rapped her nails on wood. "Specifically Naruto and Kagome, to keep tabs on the situation."

Kakashi nodded. "And how will you approach the situation regarding Kagome-san's memories?"

"One step at a time, Kakashi. I need time to gather information and get a grip on Naruto before we proceed."

"Of course." Kakashi resigned to that fact. It would be a matter of time now.

"You're both dismissed." Tsunade waved them off as her amber eyes dipped back to the surmounting paperwork before her.

Both men did the slightest of bows before turning silently and slipping out like ghosts.

"And Itachi…" She called suddenly causing the young ANBU Captain to halt and Kakashi to slip out like vapor.

"Hai, Hokage-sama?" Placid eyes and face, he was statue without a soul at that moment.

"Go to the Hospital and get checked out… I want a full report on your vitals and any traces of whatever Kagome did to you on paper and documented so we can get a handle on what we're dealing with."

Itachi bowed and slipped out like the somber shadow he was.

…

"You were one who suggested the nullification of Higurashi-san's probation."

Kakashi stopped, his eye slid lazily to the Uchiha standing in front of him now, after being detained for a moment longer he thought Itachi would have left him be."Hai, I did."

He was clearly wrong.

Itachi stood, lithe and dark, with eyes glaring out from his cool and calm front. His hands were loose at his sides, he wasn't visibly armed, nor did he have his katana, but his eyes were the only weapons he needed.

And they were pinning Kakashi against the empty hall that lay outside the Hokage's office. "If we are going to start this, Itachi-kun... Then we should discuss it in a more appropriate place."

"There is nothing… to discuss." His voice resonated in a dangerous beat throughout the hall.

"I ended Kagome-san's probation, so that her recommendation for Sasuke would have a stronger hold in ANBU." An ANBU Captain's recommendation didn't have much claim when said officer was on suspension. It was such a perfectly reasonable explanation…

"I do not need you interfering in matters that concern my brother, Kakashi-san." Itachi's voice flowed from his lips easily.

"I highly doubt this is solely about Sasuke." Kakashi pushed one hand into his pocket as his single eye met Itachi's own gaze intrepidly. "Let us keep open with one another, Itachi-kun. I take my student's best interest to heart, just as ending Kagome-san's probation eliminated any chance of rejection for Sasuke it also decreased the chance of him being placed on the same team." Kakashi paused with one palm was splayed up in the air. "However, due to your own interference with my team, that is now a reality."

It was no secret that Higurashi Kagome was now the presiding captain over Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji.

"Every decision I make is to safeguard their lives." For there would be so much more to come, that this mere Copy Ninja had no concept of. "Your mistrust in Higurashi-san is nothing more than detestable paranoia." His words were dripping with chilled venom.

"It's not so much that I don't trust Kagome-san, it is the sudden interest that has been invoked and her past that I am wary of." Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "I only give what I receive; Itachi-kun… and I have received little trust from you." Even in that brief period of time, where they had been teammates in ANBU, they had already carved out lifelong opinions of the other. Kakashi didn't fool himself into thinking that the Uchiha Prodigy was beyond biases, Kakashi held the coveted Uchiha Kekkei Genkai within him. One that came with a heavy price, and all the suspicion and prejudice to fill in the cracks.

Uchiha Itachi hadn't even given him a chance when they first met.

And it only worsened when he became his precious little brother's sensei.

"You're actions are what prove very little."

"I cannot help what I am." Son of a disgraced Shinobi. Thief of the Sharingan. "I have never done anything against you personally, Itachi-kun."

"You have stepped out of your jurisdiction purposely to dislodge Higurashi-san, as if she were a parasite." Itachi was suddenly closer, the distance was closing and his last words held bite. The predator was baring his fangs. "Your behavior has been most disrespectful."

"I don't hold regards to someone who abandons a full platoon for the sole purpose of killing themselves." It was beyond selfish to put that many people at risk only to throw your own life away. "But I did not scorn her, Itachi-kun." He amended. "I accepted her with caution, as my students are young, impressionable and much too trusting for their own good."

"Then this is where your involvement will not proceed any further, Kakashi-san." He spoke briskly.

"I'm afraid it is far too late for that, Itachi-kun. Your cousin, along with yourself have become much too involved with my students and now with Sai presiding over Naruto…" He trailed off there. "You are too deeply rooted within my team for me to overlook any longer. If I feel there is a need for Sasuke to be removed from Kagome's command, then I will advise the council to do so and they _will_ concede to my judgment. Just as they would if I were to mention your own rash actions during your most recent mission." The accusation was clear.

The ambush would have been an impossibility if precautions had been taken, but precautions took time.

"Rushing a mission is quite shamed upon, Itachi-kun. The council will want a reason for your carelessness that cost lives." Kakashi's single grey eye stared back indolently, but it was a sheathed blade. "Of course you already know what your response will be to every prodding question, but your words belie your actions." For who was it he went straight to after, despite the severity of his wounds? The cause for Itachi's odd behavior was quite clear to Kakashi, he _would_ inform the council of Kagome's unintentional hold over the Uchiha, if push came to shove.

"You're assumptions of people were always quite _ridiculous._" Itachi's voice was smooth and cold as a blade.

"The fact that you feel the need to call her by her surname disproves little to me, Itachi-kun. You're a man of many masks… your words are just another to me." To be so formal with one he had been so personal with, was a weak façade to throw people off.

"And you, Kakashi-san, are a man who does not wish to know what lies beneath." His eyes flashed then, the deepest of reds bled for but a moment across those bottomless depths.

"Is that a threat, Itachi-kun?" His posture and expression were dismissive to the lethal teen.

"Take it as you will, Kakashi-san, for you are insignificant to me." The words rolled off his tongue like velvet.

"Ah, then if we are to be doing such a lowly and empty thing, then know this..." He leveled the Uchiha with but one hooded eye. "If I feel that you or Kagome-san are influencing each other in any way than I will advise the council to have you separated _along_ with Sasuke." All three would be ripped apart without so much as a second thought.

Itachi's eyes were closed momentarily before opening to reveal the subtle glow of the activated Sharingan. Three tomoe swam in twin pools of carmine.

"You are out of line." It was so low and controlled; it sent a tremor of ice in between Kakashi's shoulder blades.

Kakashi sighed nonchalantly before turning on his heel. He had no intention of engaging in a confrontation, verbal or physical. "I never liked you either, Itachi-kun."

And with that, he turned his back on him.

…

She knew it was bad when she couldn't remember the last time she had taken a decent shower.

Especially when the water flowing off of her, was turning black and a muddled red-brown that could only be blood. She let the scalding water pelt her back and tap against her spine. She felt her blood flushing up at the heat as it was relaxing listening to the steady beats of droplets and her own breaths. Her eyes stared numbly at the drain that swirled with bloodied water and Kami only knew what else she had gotten into.

The steam permeated the air and stuck to her throat with every breath. She let the hot droplets slip over her lips and cling to her lashes. Her hair clung to just above the base of her neck, the stolid black contrasted heavily with the milky white of her skin. Inky tendrils curled and plastered themselves on her cheeks just as her eyelashes spiked and dripped.

It was until she heard the muddled sound of resonate pounding, did she stop to come back into the moment.

Kagome snapped to attention. She cranked off the water with a metallic whine and got out of the shower with a towel wrapped securely around her person. Opening her bathroom door, she felt the immediate chill of normal air before walking up to her front door and turning the knob-

Which turned itself suddenly as the door opened of its own accord and a voice began prattling almost automatically.

"I told myself I wouldn't come here, but I'm sorry Chibs. I just had to." Shisui walked straight past her and began his frantic pacing immediately.

"Shisui, what are you doing here?"

He stopped then, with his hair all but out of its usual messy nape and dark circles ringing his eyes he gave her a hollow glance. One that was framed with worry. "Itachi told me how you were… I just wanted to see for myself."

Her face slackened at that with icy eyes melting. "I'm fine, Shisui." Aside from the skull splitting headache, the frustratingly vague flashbacks, the semi consciousness she'd been in for the past few hours and the daze before that… yeah. She was fucking peachy. "I've been in and out but I think it's just the exhaustion." She tried to amend but it didn't stop Shisui's anxious look he was giving her.

"Do you know what even happened?" Shisui peered at her.

"I healed him, by some sort of a miracle." She stated simply, beads of hot water were chilling fast and sliding down her skin in cooled streams. "I have been a bit tired and emotional since. A mere lapse, Shisui. I assure you." Her disregard was too blatant.

"Do you even remember Sakura finding you?" He spoke her name tenderly.

"Unfortunately not." She quipped. "As I have stated Shisui, I have lost consciousness several times this morning." Or at least that's as much as she remembered. "Your _cousin_ left shortly after he cleaned my apartment, so if you were searching for him, I have to regrettably inform you he is no longer here."

Shisui's eyes widened, deep grey orbs staring back blatantly. "He _cleaned_?"

"And incinerated my dress." She snubbed as she flicked her wrist to remove the droplets.

"He actually… _cleaned_?" Shisui gaped as his eyes peered around the tidy little apartment, ignoring what she had just stated a moment before.

"You're obviously missing my point." She drawled as her tightened fist on her bath towel whitened a bit on the knuckles. "_And,_ is that really so surprising?"

"For Itachi? Yes." For Kami's sake he still lived with his mother… "Fuck, Chibs stop giving me that glare… it's just cold." Even when she was sopping wet, she still was able to give off a chilling glower.

"Shisui. _Leave."_ He was just wasting her time now.

"And go _where_?" He whined as he plopped down on her futon. His size encompassing the entire bed easily. "Everyone is_ busy_."

"Go make some friends." She chided. "I am obviously_ busy_." She waved a hand over the towel that just scantly came down to mid thigh.

Shisui looked up, his brow raised. "Eh so, you have boobs. Not like I haven't those before." He rolled his eyes.

Kagome made a huffing sound as her cheeks burned.

"Heh, Chibs you're turning into a tomato. You know if you don't where those bindings that all you Kunoichi wear, you could probably get a lot more attention and get a boyfriend or something… Kami knows you and Weasel aren't going anywhere until you get older and some experience." He was rambling with eyes glued to the ceiling.

"W-what?" She choked.

"Don't give me that stuttering shit, no guy likes that." He lifted his neck up so he could fix Kagome with a puzzled look. "Why are staring at me like that?"

Kagome blinked. "Because I believe you're the insane one now!" She whispered sharply.

"What? I just want you and Itachi to have babies." He admitted honestly. "You two…" He pointed straight at her. "Would have pretty little genius babies, that might be little arrogant little bastards, but cute either way."

Kagome's breathing became very audible for a moment. "Do you even realize how old I am?" She hissed.

"Oh, not now! Later, later." He waved that off. "That's why you need to get out there and get some guy. Itachi is as reserved as they come, hell if wasn't for me he'd still be a virgin. So he'll need a little encouragement for this too."

A few fleeting images, her brain had magically concocted together were flashing through disturbingly and making her stomach roil."I didn't need to know that." Kagome muttered, she could feel a small puddle collecting under her feet now.

"Oh don't get jealous, they were nothing but meat." Shisui laid back down. "Yep, you get a guy and Itachi will get a bit standoffish and then he'll be all manipulative and you'll find your lover one day mysteriously missing with Itachi on your doorstep on one knee…." Shisui sighed whimsically. "Then we'll all be a family, with freaky little prodigies running around."

Kagome sighed she just wasn't going to get rid of him. "Shisui, your mouth is going to get us all into a lot of trouble."

"You're thinking about Yui." Shisui mumbled solemnly. "That betrothal was defunct from the start Chibs, Itachi does whatever the fuck he wants."

"That's… good to know." She gave Shisui a very hooded stare. "And you plan on getting married as well?" She suddenly added.

Shisui perked up, grinning ear to ear. "Of course, Chibs. Can't be a bachelor my entire life… I got to settle down with some girl _eventually_."

"And would that girl possibly be named Sakura?" Kagome hinted blandly, the two were practically regular drinking buddies now. It was only a matter of time…

"Which one?" Shisui drawled. "I've dated three _Sakuras _and slept with another _two_."

Kagome wrinkled nose as she waddled over to her bed, plopped down beside his knees and shivered when a droplet slid down her back. "You know who I mean." She chastised. "You like her." A breeze wafted through her gaping window and through the sheets.

Shisui shrugged. "Eh, she's okay… but I swear if she ever gave me a son with pink hair…"

Kagome smirked as she kicked the air, her eyes narrowing at how colorless things could seem in broad daylight. "You have been thinking about it..." Her white legs were back dropped by an almost grey carpet.

"It's way too early to start thinking that, Chibs. Don't get all excited cause were going to be _sixthcousinstwiceremoved-in-laws_."

"I thought you and Itachi…"Kagome trailed as she twirled a ebony tendril around her finger, a single droplet sliding down it.

"Were immediate cousins? Hell no, I mean Yui is probably closer in blood to him than me." He laced his hands under his head as his charcoal doused hair was splayed beneath in a spiky halo.

"That's disgusting." Kagome muttered with a wrinkled nose.

"Incest usually is, I mean I was supposedly betrothed to my third cousin like…" He held up his fingers as he counted. "Three years ago and look how that turned out."

"How did you get out of it?" Her eyes slid, shadowed and glistening in the peeling afternoon light.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Shisui snubbed but cracked a smile when Kagome was eyeing him expectantly. "Heh, she slept with some civilian guy and got knocked up. Clan disowned her in a heartbeat." He shrugged against the mattress. "-but she's got a toddler now and lives with her husband, can't say she's living the hard of a life." He muttered dejectedly.

"Hm." And Kagome went back to staring at her toes.

A moment laid between them and the silence was filling it; save for the subtle flaps of the sheet against the window.

Shisui raised a brow. "So…"

Kagome's blues eyes grayed out for a moment before sliding back to the lounging Uchiha. "What?"

"He came in through the window?" He assumed from the tattered sheet pinned up against the frame, where blaring sunlight was prickling through.

Kagome nodded numbly, with murky depths of blue dipping back to the floor.

"Well, he must have made quite a mess if he felt the need to clean it…" Shisui trailed when he saw Kagome's eyes dart to the corner of the flat. He sighed wearily as he sat up to get a better view of the pile of sheets. "Damn…" He bit a curse as he saw the amount of blood. "He's a weasel alright… always slipping out of death's hands."

"You know they suspect you." _For being the mastermind behind the ambush. _

Shisui cradled his cheek in his palm before giving a half shrug. "Eh, it wasn't me but you already know this and probably have already assumed the timing is too perfect for it be coincidental either."

"Someone is trying to frame you." Kagome muttered darkly with her arms wrapping around herself in a meager self embrace.

"That's hardly a concern, especially since the ultimate goal was to kill Itachi." Dark grey eyes were staring off.

"What are we going to do about it?" She asked briskly.

Shisui's eyes hardened as he met her gaze. "We wait." He spoke lowly. There was already an investigation underfoot, it was only a matter of time before they got answers. "And when we do find out who it was, you let me take care of it."_ You walk away._

Kagome nodded. "Alright…" She straightened suddenly as she turned to Shisui with eyes wide and swirling with something unreadable. "Shisui… how is-"

A knock rapped on her front door suddenly.

Both ANBU stiffened at that, snapping whatever question right out of her mouth.

"_Kagome-chan!"_ A muffled holler was heard from the other side.

She was up and across the room soundlessly before Shisui could blink. She may have been fast to normal standards but even without his Sharingan, he could still track her. Shisui was always _faster._

Wind users were funny like that, the subtlest of wind currents could always be felt in their wake.

Kagome twisted the knob slightly and cracked the door open. Her eyes peered out, dusted grey blue eyes caught sight of blonde before anything else.

"Oi!" Naruto eyes were crammed shut from the ear to ear grin he was shining at her.

Kagome's sopping wet head popped out around him to catch a glimpse of a white haori. "Sasuke?" She raised a brow at his sudden withdrawn posture.

The Uchiha remained silent, eyes flicking down to Kagome for a brief moment before focusing back on Naruto. "Hn."

Kagome blinked and then scrunched her nose. "You both can come back later." She informed them tersely. "I'm busy." She began to close the door until-

Sasuke's sandaled foot wedged itself solidly in the doorframe and he was suddenly looming over her.

"You better open up, Kagome-chan." Naruto hummed. "We know someone else is in there."

She cursed under her breath before leaving them so swiftly the air she once occupied _swooshed._ Her small stomps reverberated throughout the flat as the two of them followed in her wake.

Their eyes were searching, the cleanliness and lack of dust didn't escape Sasuke's notice as did the lack of windowpane.

"Damn, Kagome. What you do to the window?" Naruto was before it the next moment, fingering the frayed edges of the sheet flapping idly in the breeze.

She said nothing, just remained silent against the wall. With her head bowed and one hand bunched up with her towel and the other clasping to her elbow, she looked like a statue.

Sasuke's eyes were searching, he knew he felt the tremor of a chakra signature just a moment before…

"Try looking up, Gaki." Came a booming voice from above.

Before either he or Naruto could, Shisui flipped down nimbly onto the carpet with only a dull thud and stood in all his glory between them. "Heh, finally came to the scene of the crime did ya?" Shisui's voice was a bit sharper than usual.

Sasuke regarded him warily. "What are you saying?"

"You have no idea, do you?" Shisui shot Kagome a look that belied little. "Chibs, you want to tell them?" He asked quietly.

Kagome's eyes slid open suddenly, glistening in those blue grey depths was detachment. "There is nothing to tell."

"Your brother is alive, Sasuke." Shisui said brusquely as he jacked a thumb in Kagome's direction. "Chibi healed him."

"How badly was he injured?" Sasuke questioned coldly.

His only response was a web of cloth being thrown at him, Sasuke caught it steadily enough and looked over the sheets with dark eyes.

Even amidst the gore, Sasuke felt the trickle of one ridiculous thought brush against him.

It was how-

They reminded him of roses.

With hearts of the darkest reds and sometimes the deepest of browns, the petals flared out in clouded blotches pink.

_Is he alive?_

That was what came to mind.

But he never said it.

A second pair of hands grazed the sheets that had gone stiff with blood. Naruto's eyes dipped down and over the dried puddles as he stroked a particle blot that spread out from the heart.

Naruto didn't linger on them long, not like him, no, he was beside Kagome in a few heavy steps. With a red blanket that bled vermillion in hand, he wrapped the small shivering girl and gathered her up as if she could fit into his pocket.

Kagome numbly rested a cheek on the crook of his neck as Naruto began muttering something too low for the rest of them to hear.

Kagome responded blankly. "I'm fine."

Sasuke pried himself away, his eyes only and watched as the sheets fell to the ground.

_He's alive. He's alive._

"He's alive, Gaki." Shisui slung an arm around the smaller boy. "Stop looking as if you just saw your entire family massacred."

He said nothing; just found the wall a much more comforting sight.

"C'mon…"

Sasuke felt himself moved over to the futon, his feet too numb to resist the push on his neck from his cousin. He settled down deeply, with hands already running over his scalp and face, lingering on the temples and eyes.

He only heard the mutterings of Naruto, as he regarded how Kagome melted into a little girl before him, instead of the stoic ANBU he was so familiar with. They stood in the corner of the apartment, with the sun hot on them and blaring out Naruto's exuberant colors. He was like the sun, out and open with only the greatest of shadows cast, while Sasuke watched from the them, eyes dark as night and skin pale as the moon. He sulked and held so much in, the light he cast was ethereal. Barely comparable, but still beautiful.

Naruto was rocking on his feet as if she were a toddler to be coddled; she was talking in short whispers that hissed sweetly and with every word Naruto's grip grew tighter. "I'm sorry." He saw Naruto mouth so subtly. "I should have stayed…"

Kagome's face disappeared in his shoulders with tiny fingers twisting in that small blonde nape Naruto had grown out.

His eyes hardened and narrowed sharply, while his face lay ever so still. Something had obviously transpired the previous night; while he had dragged an intoxicated Sakura back to her apartment, he had let Naruto carry a very tuckered out little girl without so much as a second thought.

Sasuke was deeming this, as of now, a very regrettable decision.

_I should have stayed…_

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Naruto's words weren't meant for his ears, but he dwelled on them too easily.

He felt his insides roil at that, as the answer was just on the fringes of his consciousness.

Kagome's sleeping habit was not lost on him. She was, if anything, still a child; maybe even more so as trauma can cause one to regress as well. Her embittered and stoic front could be a compensation for something she was extremely lacking.

Meaning, even sleeping alone would be difficult for her.

The possibilities were stacking…

_Could have Itachi-_

"Oi!"

A hard flick to the temple snapped Sasuke out of his brooding. He shot up a nasty glare to his cousin.

Shisui rolled his eyes. "You look like you're about to kill someone." His eyes trailed over to Naruto and Kagome, his gaze knowing. "You really shouldn't dwell on _that_." He said lowly.

"Shisui." Faded black met stark obsidian. "Stay out of it."

"Don't get pissy with me, just cause you're getting jealous." Shisui crossed his arms as the accusation flowed off his tongue.

The younger Uchiha bristled at that, not visibly of course but his eyes were bleeding with a dark venom.

"Che, whatever." Shisui brushed off his younger cousin's aggravation as sensitivity. It was always like this, neither Itachi nor Sasuke were tolerable when they were worried about each other. Both brothers were insufferable to be around at times like these, when they became oversensitive or extremely reticent.

Shisui cocked his head over to the swaddled Kagome who was on her own feet now but with Naruto crouching and both of them still speaking in low tones. "Oi, Chibi!" He called over earning a start from the both of them and Kagome looking over with dazed wide eyes. "Can I use your bathroom?"

Kagome waved him off, "go." She said before turning back to Naruto and their previous conversation.

Shisui was off with a nonchalant whistle as he rounded the corner. He disappeared with the sound of a shutting door crisply behind him.

Moments passed and Kagome's and Naruto's conversation became slightly more audible, but Sasuke deflected it as he rescinded into the very back of his mind. His eyes were vacant as they stared indolently, past the crumpled sheets, the enraptured pair, the loathsome possibilities and into the blank wall.

Minutes, maybe just a few or many, passed as time blurred.

Then a crisp knock cut the air.

Naruto and Kagome paused whatever they were discussing and stood in the silence for a moment.

Whoever was at the door, didn't matter, he barely even accounted for Kagome's swiftness to the front as he appraised Naruto with a harsh look. The Jinchuuriki's eyes were glued to Kagome's back, following her as if they were a shadow.

When Kagome's voice rang clear and full of ice, Sasuke's ears pricked up at that.

Naruto positioned himself off to the side, so that his person wasn't immediately visible to the sudden visitor.

The door was opened but a crack, just enough for Kagome's privy only.

Kagome's eyes hardened at the sight of the visitor. "What do you want?" She complained quite audibly.

A long drawn out sigh could be heard from the unseen visitor. "I was going to avoid this… troublesome situation … despite not hearing a word from you in the past _week _and Okaa-san's nagging and the sudden news that you're no longer on probation and the fact I have to hear about your recent company from the Hokage, _who _was investigating you on a federal crime _and_ the fact that your landlord is complaining to us yet _again… _was still not enough for us to come and confront you… but _this_, _Kagome_… _this _is when Okaa-san became concerned." And made him come over and personally demand answers.

Kagome's posture slackened quite as she let go of the door.

The door swung open with an agonizing creak to reveal-

Nara Shikamaru in all his glory with one hand jammed in his pocket and the other upheld and holding-

"Buyo?" Kagome gaped.

The most hideous cat either of them had ever seen.

"_Mew"_

The fat neko responded happily to Kagome and purred at its name despite being held by the scruff of its neck.

Shikamaru's eyes were fixed heatedly on Kagome as he rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "Because Kami forbid she forgets to feed her cat." He muttered to himself.

Wordlessly, Kagome gathered the neko in her arms, she was stunned to say the least. Had she really been that preoccupied she hadn't even noticed her own cat had been missing? "Arigato." She muttered quietly as Buyo snuggled into her neck.

"Do you even know how long the fur ball had been gone for?" Shikamaru closed his eyes, his brow prickling with annoyance. "He showed up on our doorstop days ago practically begging for food."

Kagome nodded, with eyes hooded and gaze averted. "I'll pay closer attention next time…" She began to close the door only to be ceased by Shikamaru's firmly placed hand.

"Who's in there?" Shikamaru's gaze was peering over her.

Sasuke listened silently along with Naruto, who was angled off from the Nara's immediate line of sight.

"No one." Kagome clipped as she forced Shikamaru back a bit with a push on the door.

Shikamaru's eyes flicked down to her bare shoulders and the blanket covering everything else. "Are you wearing clothes?" He plucked at the fabric.

Kagome stepped back sharply with a fearsome look. "I was in the shower before you rudely intruded, _Nara_."

Shikamaru took her sudden retreat to step in, he immediately set his eyes on the blonde in the corner who had avoided him prior. "Naruto?" He was taken back a bit.

"Yo." Naruto gave a lax wave.

"What are you doing here?"

Sasuke watched as the Nara overlooked him and focused in Naruto with a rather harsh look.

"Ah, Shikamaru…" Naruto gave a half grin. "We can explain."

"Nara…" Sasuke drawled loudly, this was going to go downhill fast…

Shikamaru stiffened and turned slowly, only to see Uchiha Sasuke lounging on Kagome's futon. "Uchiha?" His face was a twist with confusion.

"Aa… Is there a reason why you are here?" He asked deeply, as he hunched over the edge of the futon with eyes piercing. He was already annoyed…

"I should be asking you both the same question." The Nara clipped as he fingered the left pocket of his Chuunin vest.

Kagome was between the three of them in a heartbeat. "Listen-"

But she was cut off by Shikamaru. "Is someone in the shower?" He whipped around to the bathroom door.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "No-" But then she noticed the distinct sound of water trickling. "Um… I don't know, actually." She commented absently.

"Really?" He raised a brow. "Weren't you just in there?"

Suddenly the bathroom door cracked open to reveal the head of a sopping wet Uchiha Shisui, whose hair was making a puddle on the tile. "Yo, Chibs. You got a towel?"

"Kagome…"

"Shikamaru, I can explain _everything_."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Now we know why Buyo has been gone during the past few apartment scenes. Anyone actually notice? Welp, Shisui knows how to make things awkward. And, no, I don't why he just jumped into the shower. Probably sniffed her shampoo and liked it. Shisui is a man of impulse, by the way. (in case you haven't figured that out by now;)) I think Shisui is appearing more than any other character… Oh well! I love him! Do you?~KK

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

45+ = _Wednesday,_ **August 25**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **September 8**(One month)

20+= _Wednesday_, **October 6**(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **November 3**(Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Sunday, August, 15**_


	13. Of Kittens, Lollipops and Needles

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

* * *

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

**Tsuchi no Kuni**

_5 months ago…_

Winter was a beautiful thing when it was motionless and simply untouched caked snow on rock and ice. Fire country never received such thick dollops of the icy stuff; only the occasional lacy flurry coating the earth and the barren black trees was what her country usually garnered.

So spending the past few days needling their way through the mountainsides was something to marvel at when most of her native seasons were muted and usually temperate. Still, Deidara's company was nothing to be desired and with the ever present threat of hunter-nin, one could never admire nature's frostier side for long.

Even Deidara, usually gratingly verbal and flamboyant with his random musings was biding his time and keeping his tongue held when traipsing a few yards ahead.

That left a gaping silence to fill in the void, she was never one to be vocal when it came to her thoughts, and she wasn't going to start now, not when the soft gusts of an echoing wind soughed through the bluish rocks and kept her mind at ease. It was a watered down and completely nonsensical peace, of sorts.

Deidara stalked about an outcropping ahead, gaining a slightly higher ground and looking past her. His sleek blonde hair spilled past in its usual style but was slightly grayed out by the overcast white skies, leaving it to have a platinum sheen to it.

Kagome trailed, her movements sluggish compared to the flittering Deidara, who was looking behind them every few minutes or so.

With sharp silver-blue eyes on the horizon, Deidara announced, "we're being followed, yeah."

His voice cut the air that had been silent for hours and Kagome looked meekly up from her path, her footsteps pausing in their mirroring of Deidara's. "Hunter-nin?" It wasn't a question.

Deidara nodded, eyes gleaming like blades, _violent_. "Hm, I'd hoped we would have lost 'em in the canyon."

"We should leave Tsuchi no Kuni as soon as possible," Kagome replied fluidly, cradling her hand to her chest still. "I can't fight with this yet."

Deidara's eyes flicked to her crumpled appendage and grunted. "You never fight anyway."

Kagome gritted her teeth. "I don't blow them to meaty bits, you mean."

Deidara shrugged. "More like dust, and you haven't seen anything yet, yeah."

Kagome averted her eyes, feeling that insistent pull to bolt _again._ She couldn't though, not with hunter-nin so close and her current (non-public) status listed as missing-nin. They would kill her on sight with the simple basis of trespassing alone. If anything, Deidara had more of right to be in this country more than she did, after all, he was a native, a missing-nin, but a native nonetheless. While_ she_ was a missing-nin Konoha had _forgotten_ to mention to other countries for the bingo books as her cover, her lack of fame and notoriety helped as well, but still, hunter-nin had every right to kill her on sight.

Tsunade would revoke the status once the mission was complete, but until then, her presence could not be discovered, lest Konoha do some sticky legal work or abandon her to avoid war. _Most likely the latter_, she though bitterly, hating the mission right now more than ever.

Technically she was kidnapped, though, so didn't that make her identity compromised and mission void?

_No_, was the immediate response that came to mind.

"Oi, Kikyo-san!" Deidara waved his hand to get her attention. "Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover, yeah."

Kagome sighed and plodded onward with featherlike footsteps overtop the three foot deep snow, it was a lot like walking on water.

Deidara disappeared over the ledge, the last few glints of blonde hair telling her his direction.

Kagome followed numbly, eyes skimming the cracked stone, lingering on the sheen of the blue-green veins. "Deidara?" She called suddenly, when the ledge turned up a vacant space of untouched snow.

He popped his head in front of her in the next moment, grinning generously and beckoning her down an alcove. She slipped into the narrow pathway that tore up so high, the daylight was but a thin thread lining above them. And somehow, a man thrice her size slithered through like the devilish snake he was.

"How do you know these mountains, so well?" She asked him, her voice echoing crisply about the slate.

Deidara grunted as he hit a particular tight spot about his midriff. "I _am_ a missing-nin." He sent her a smirk.

Kagome bit in a gasp when a peak caught her wrist. "And you came into these mountains before?" She asked lightly. After all, Earth country was known for its vast, endless mountain ranges.

Deidara grunted in his usual concurrence. "Hunter-nins abated usually when I ran into here." He murmured with eyes glancing up to the crisp winter-light. "I've always lost them before, hm."

Speckles of crystalline dust glittered as they floated on by the white light. "How?"

He sent her a look that glistened sweetly of too many things. "I got _lost…_ many times, yeah."

Kagome breathed audibly when a rock clipped her fingers, with cloudlets forming at her lips, she appraised him with sympathetic eyes. "How long?"

"Few years ago." Deidara squeezed past the final notch and disappeared into a cavern.

Kagome followed in his wake and scraped by easily until she reached the basin of the fissure. She looked up to the eyelet that was a skylight of sorts and marveled at the silvery glow. The cavern twisted up with a slick coat of ice on the veined purple-green rocks and floor. Her distorted and muddled reflection stared back wide-eyed and pale.

"—stumbled upon this place when I nearly died of thirst during the summer." Deidara's voice boomed through the tiny frozen aquifer. "We'll wait 'em out for now, yeah. They won't find us."

Kagome's head was still thrown back with eyes gaping at the gleaming stone. "Who do I remind you of?" She asked so suddenly with eyes still drawn to the iced rock.

Deidara's grin slightly fell. "You have an impeccable memory—" He began to evade.

"Deidara—"

He quickly went back to the question. "Ah, just a girl I knew back in the orphanage, yeah."

"You went to an orphanage?" Her eyes immediately fell onto him. There was no pity but curious empathy.

Deidara shrugged. "Cliché, right? But yeah, I _was _until funding stopped and we were dumped onto the street to fend for ourselves, hm."

Kagome said nothing, but her eyes did not flinch away. Iwa suffered greatly in the aftermath of the last war.

"We banded together, a few of us, and knew we could only live if we became shinobi." He spoke lightly, blade-blue eyes skimming about anywhere but her face. "I was lucky, yeah. I at least had a name."

Kagome swallowed, a lump forming like a stone in her throat. "So was I."

Deidara paused, tilted his head to the side. "Guess Root _did_ have to find you somewhere, yeah?"

Kagome nearly froze when she was about to argue, swiftly remembering her cover story._ Ex-Root member, missing-nin, name: Kikyo. Right._

"Aka and Kuro were the ones to make it with me, the rest died or disappeared." Deidara shrugged them off as if they didn't matter. "And we were good, yeah. _Real good_." His eyes were sharp then. "Kuro though, she was kind of like me, loved the fight… found the _art_ in it… but she loved Iwa, yeah, loved our village…" The last bit scratched over his teeth heatedly, then just as suddenly he turned jovial. "Me on the other hand, couldn't give a damn if the whole place burned to ash, yeah."

"So you left?" Kagome iterated dryly.

Deidara shrugged. "Only after I tried to blow up a hospital, I stole some scrolls before that though."

Kagome shook her head. _Forbidden Jutsu._ "Of course, explains the…_ hands_."

A palm with a grin plastered across and a tongue slithering out was her response. "These are quite popular with the ladies, hm."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. "What happened to her?"

"Swore she would bring me back to the village if it was the last thing she would do." Deidara pocketed his tonguing hand. "But I've never been one to lay down and die for a country that didn't give a damn when I was a starving orphan, yeah. And I don't like to be in one place for long either, life should be a fleeting thing, not complacent or planned. She never understood that."

Kagome nearly wilted, pity emanating for this girl. "It sounds like she loves you."

Deidara grunted. "Maybe, but she was like a little sister to me and Aka, and violent as they come. She's a nasty little bit too." It sounded like a warning. "She works directly for the Tsuchikage now, and is a completely different person than from the little girl I once knew…" That time Deidara's eyes softened to a petal-blue silk and pooled on the icy floor.

The thrum of silence beat in the cave. It was deafening.

"You can't blame her for wanting a normal life or being accepted by her village." Kagome intoned evenly. "You can't choose another person's path."

"Neither can she." Deidara defended with hands running through his blonde bangs."Anyways, yeah, you remind me of her a bit, 'cept her eyes were bright red," _like blood and rubies and everything that's horrible in this world. _He sent her a lingering glance.

"And how is that again?" She queried irritably.

"Isn't it obvious? You both lost your innocence to the shinobi life, yeah."

* * *

**-Chapter Thirteen-**

Of Kittens, Lollipops and Needles

* * *

_-because we never believed in fairytales,_

_I'll make my princes have fangs and bloody eyes,_

_and faint from mirrors and smoke._

…

"Then start _explaining_." Shikamaru intoned evenly, he was so fed up at the moment, he could actually go for a smoke inside_ and_ in Kagome's presence.

Kagome gaped, but no words came out. How was she going to explain _this_, again?

"_He-llo?"_ Shisui peered farther out, with sopping-wet hair completed deflated and dripping past all the way down to the floor, he looked half the size without his usual obnoxious mane. "Chibs, throw me yours, you got a blanket."

`Kagome buried her face into Buyo's fur as she wished to disappear. This was not happening, this terribly awkward situation was concocted by some evil fiend who just liked to have a good laugh at her life….This was _not_ happening!

"Do you guys really want to see my stick and berries? Because I'm just waiting here!"

There was a whine from the mortified as she continued to block out the world.

Shikamaru's eyes slanted over to his adopted sister. "Kagome… who is this?" Better to start with _that_ first before everything else, he wasn't the usual overbearing or protective type but he would kill a naked man in his adopted sister's apartment if need be. Though body disposal was most troublesome nowadays…

Shisui glared past the dripping curtain that was his hair. "Your fuckin' grandmother." He snapped. "Who the hell are _you_?"

"Kagome's brother." Shikamaru snapped _back _with a long look. Would society really condemn him to fighting this guy?

Shisui immediately placated as he walked up to the Nara with a hand outstretched. "Ah, nice to meet a future in-law."

"What?" Shikamaru nearly jumped, with eyes blanketing Kagome in a sudden shadow. He needed answers, and he needed them now. "Who's getting married?" He clipped right at the little ANBU. "Kagome?"

"Shisui." Kagome hissed with eyes firmly closed and still very much shielded by a plump Buyo. Shikamaru was smart enough, she wouldn't have to explain away Shisui's little fantasies of her and Itachi's imaginary progeny.

"Yeah, Chibs?"

"Go back to the bathroom," she gritted out.

"Why?"

"He can't be serious," Sasuke quietly drawled as he immediately fixed his eyes on the wall.

"Clothes, you bastard! _Clothes!"_ Naruto growled as he crouched.

"Did I not_ just_ ask for a fucking towel?"

"That's it!" It was then, Naruto _snapped._

…

Three black eyes later…

Two donned by a now unconscious and still _nude_ Uchiha Shisui and the third by a very pissed off Jinchuuriki who was practically snarling under his breath.

Sasuke unceremoniously dropped a dishtowel over his cousin's…

He shuttered to even glance as he nodded over to Naruto, who was back-dropped by an angry late morning sun.

The blonde rubbed his swelling lid. "It's safe to come out now, Kagome-chan," he called with a grating tone.

The bathroom door swung open with Kagome fully dressed in her usual black attire and a towel draped around her neck. "If my landlord was complaining before, he'll be threatening to put me on the street now." She complained as she dabbed her neck.

Shikamaru shook his head as he was leaning against the wall with hands shoved in his pockets. "This is troublesome…" He muttered. "You have not only provoked the Uchiha Itachi but his brother and cousin as well." Possibly the entire clan with the way things were going.

"Provoked?" Kagome repeated cautiously with eyes fixed on him and treading steadily over to the very irate Naruto.

Sasuke was eyeing the Nara with deep eyes. "If you're referring to my Clan…"

Shikamaru held up a hand, not wanting to bristle the only conscious Uchiha in the room. "Listen, there have been complaints circulating around the Clan leaders. Mainly Uchiha Fugaku wishing to personally meet with my father…"

Sasuke's arms crossed, as he stood reserved and listening.

"Mainly? Who else wants to meet with Shikaku?" Kagome clipped sending a wayward glance over her shoulder to Sasuke who returned her gaze with just as much question.

"Some woman by the name of Yui along with Hyuuga Hiashi." Shikamaru flipped his vest pocket open and fingered about. "He's stalling, Kagome." He flicked the cigarette about his fingertips for a moment as he pressed the pertinence of the situation.

Kagome was nodding. "Yes, I know." She was thinking, with eyes dipped and swirling with somber thoughts.

"He wants to see you first, know what's going on and hear it from your mouth."

"My father has his own to deal with. He's being prompted by someone," Sasuke added coolly.

Kagome gave a sardonic smirk. "It's not that hard to guess who, then." Sasuke was right, she was an annoyance for sure, but nothing that would grant the full and immediate attention of the entire clan or even the patriarch. "I will speak with Itachi about this, first. Maybe he can get a handle on her before she starts up flames." If provoked the right way, the Uchiha Clan could tear Sasuke from her team and under the care of someone who would be less _concerned_ about his wellbeing… "You mentioned Hyuuga?"

Shikamaru shrugged, with eyes down as he patted for his lighter. "Nothing unusual, he just seems curious about the _situation_…" A silver lighter materialized in his grasp. "—you mentioned Itachi?" The flame ignited and singed the tip of the cigarette that hung between his lips.

She froze, but recovered swiftly. "Hai, I was informed this morning that he was reported on the outskirts a few hours prior to being recovered by Med-nin." The lie rolled off the tongue like silk and Sasuke and Naruto remained silent to that fact.

"Anything else?" Shikamaru drawled as he finished a long drag.

"No." Kagome was before him in a blur as she whipped the cigarette from the Nara's lips and put it out on his vest. "But is there anything else you want to add?" She bit out lowly.

"Other than the fact you're hiding something—No." He sharply evaded her encroaching on his personal space as he dusted off the ash.

Kagome's eyes slid to the side, blue glittered with the dark grey of dying embers. "Sasuke, will you get the door?" she asked icily.

He paused a moment, this was the first command she had ever issued but from the way she looked, with knuckles white and eyes darkening, he conceded slowly.

Shikamaru left without a word, only followed by fresh trails of smoke.

There was a growl after the door closed from a very irate Jinchuuriki. "Kagome—" he gritted out.

She shot a heated look over to Naruto who had been relatively quiet but from the way he was cradling his skull and nearly pulling out his summer-straw yellow hair, she could tell he was about to lose it. _Soon._

"What the fuck was _that_?" He looked up with sharp eyes, oceanic and deep blue usually as vast and open to anyone were closed off and steely with a deathly chill. It was like the ocean had frozen over.

Kagome strode over the floor fluidly, best not to aggravate the already snarling fox. "Nara's asking questions, no doubt it's from the rumors Shikaku may have heard." And Shisui's little in-law comment did not help matters. "I need to talk to him _before _he finds out I healed Itachi." She sat beside the bristled blonde with her face cradled in her palms wishing Naruto wasn't so caged off to her at the moment.

Sasuke's eyes were contemplating. "Is it… truly this serious?" he asked lowly.

Nimble shoulders lifted and sagged in a meek shrug. "It's pretty well known that I had a very miraculous recovery after my attempted suicide when I went AWOL." She spoke so lightly of the one decision that wrecked her life. "Me being questioned of having some dormant Kekkei Genkai has never been ruled out, but Shikaku has always fought against it… clinging to other factors, like my will to live or the severity of my wounds never being fatal…" She trailed with the fringes of her words numbing over as her eyes became glazed. "If my healing Itachi gets out…" Then that was it.

"Why does it even matter?" Naruto muttered murderously as he rubbed his temples. "Look at Teme he's got freaky ass eyes and no one bothers him."

"A new Kekkei Genkai throws things around, there's always a delicate balance between the villages and if Leaf threatens with too much power, then war would eventually break out." Kagome sighed, eyes too old for her face and much too tired.

"So… what's so bad if anyone in our own village finds out?" Naruto bit on his lip, nearly slicing the flesh.

"_Dobe,"_ Sasuke's brow furrowed, "if the council finds out—"

"She'll be turned into a lab rat," chimed in, a groaning Shisui from the floor. "Ugh… did you really have to sock an unarmed man, Whiskers?" Shisui sat up with a palm covering his right swelling eyelid. "Shit, you're fast…" he muttered quickly.

A towel was thrown indignantly at Shisui's face. "Get dressed," deadpanned Sasuke, who was effectively blocking Kagome from his cousin's indecency.

"Righto!" Shisui shot up a cheeky grin. Despite his hair being deflated from the water and being successfully nude, he still managed to look cocky and grate on his younger cousin's nerves. "You should actually start calling me sempai now, _brat_."

"Shisui." Kagome's voice cut the air.

"Yeah...you know that goes for you too Chibs-Oi! Stop glaring! I get it, I get it…" And he sulked back to the bathroom with a towel around his waist. With the door closed solidly behind him the trio returned to their prior discussion.

"Then tell Shikamaru's dad and he'll keep it a secret," Naruto declared simply, it was being overblown way out of proportion.

"That's the problem, I don't think it's a secret anymore…" What with the Clan's prying at him, it was inevitable that people were going to find out. "People just don't walk away from an ambush that nearly wiped out an entire squadron..."

Sasuke's eyes dipped to the floor. "Itachi will come up with something."

"I wouldn't bet on that…" Shisui sauntered over from the bathroom, _fully dressed._ "If Sakura has not already gone to the Hokage then Itachi probably has." He pinched a damp lock of hair until it relinquished a stubborn droplet.

"What?" Kagome eyes hollowed out right before them. "Why would he do that?"

"I told him 'don't do that…they'll exploit her, she won't like you very much after…' but nope," Shisui snubbed. "He didn't listen."

Kagome blinked a few times. "I… I can't believe he would just do that, without even…" _Talking to me about it._

Shisui's face crumpled at the sight of her. "Calm down, calm down… you look like someone just kicked your favorite kitten…" He ruffled her damp inky black hair playfully.

"I have to talk to Shikaku right away then." Kagome ducked out from under his grip and made a start for the door. "Before anyone else starts talking behind my back."

"Oi!" Naruto staggered to his feet.

"Sasuke." Kagome spared them a glance; her eyes were pale and brittle behind her bangs.

Naruto's face was contorted in what looked like a snarl and Sasuke was sending her a wary look but only nodded.

"Take Naruto to the hospital, he's too unstable to be walking around." She ordered weakly. "I could sense his chakra a mile away this morning…" _It's been erratic ever since._

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here—" He growled. "_I'm fine."_

But Kagome was already gone.

Sasuke turned around to his friend. He wouldn't delude himself into thinking the fox might not be talking to him right at this moment and when _that_ happened it meant someone was going to hurt. "Dobe…"

"Forget it, you bastard… I'm not going to hospital…" Naruto's eyes were like daggers.

"This is all because you're around Chibi too much." Shisui muttered solemnly, with his usual messy hair placated down his back and sodden, he almost looked serious. "But you already knew that."

Sasuke sent a dark look over to his cousin. "What?"

Shisui's dark grey eyes slid over to the feral blonde. "Go ahead, tell him… tell him what the fox has been _whispering_ you."

Naruto's face slacked, with whisker marks now visibly showing their serrated edges and eyes gaping. "How do you know about that?"

Shisui shrugged, "lucky guess."

Naruto bristled at that and was about to lunge for the _second_ time when—

A hard forearm slammed into his chest along with a large hand gripping his shoulder. It was like hitting iron, only that it was staring back with dark eyes.

"_Te-me…" _Naruto's voice was guttural.

"You're going to the hospital."

"You better listen, Whiskers…" Shisui's taunt earned another snarl from the Jinchuuriki.

Sasuke shoved Naruto gruffly back from Shisui. "Do you even recognize yourself?" His voice was scalding.

Naruto paused, his will breaking through. "I…I'm _fine_." And then he hardened up and stomped past both Uchiha with a growl, hitting Sasuke's shoulder along the way.

Sasuke was solid, staring blankly ahead and trying to retain his temper.

"What the fuck are you doing, Teme?"

Sasuke's jaw set itself into a harsh line while he grit his teeth.

"You comin', Gaki?" Shisui called from the doorway.

He let a sigh pass over his lips. "Aa." _She chose quite a time to leave us._

"Heh, you need to learn how to take it, Gaki." Kami knows he had his own best friend to deal with.

Sasuke just needed to learn how deal with his better.

…

Papers sifting, scrolls rolling, parchments creasing and the smell of hot wax filled the air. Shizune shifted on her feet as Tsunade finalized a decree with the official seal. "Tsunade-sama?"

"Hm?" She grunted as she was stubbornly engrossed in the scrawled writings of some report.

"You called me here?"

A pale blonde brow raised. "Ah, right… can you gather together some ANBU to deliver this." A plain scroll, thin and minutely fastened is what her lacquered nails curled around.

"Hai." Shizune looked down at the measly thing."Who is it for?"

"Nara Shikaku." Tsunade scrawled something down and moved it to the side. "I want to inform him about Kagome's current condition and press the matter of examining her."

Shizune's brow furrowed. "And just how are you going to make this _pressing_?"

"By informing him of Kagome's instability this morning and the plain simple fact that she_ is_ regressing back to her old emotional state and she _will _need to be treated properly this time."

Shizune tested the scroll's weight in her palm. "Tsunade-sama, no one has really confirmed this…"

"No." Tsunade nodded as she stamped something. "But if she's not put under some observation, Shizune, the council will take over completely and have their way with her. So until I think of some genius plan …" AKA Itachi thinks up of something, or hell even Shikamaru. "We buck up and play therapy with her."

Shizune's lips pursed nervously. "Don't you think that is a little rash?" They had absolutely no gauge on what Shikaku's reaction would be.

"Shikaku can handle himself, Shizune. If anything he'll be the one to take her to get looked at before we can even try."

Shizune nodded. "Hai, whatever you think is best, Tsunade-sama."

…

Far on the outskirts and conveniently near the Nara forest, she found herself in the Nara district but not nearly as fast as she would have liked. She bounded off a rooftop and skidded soundlessly down a metal pipe until she bounded to a stop in a alleyway with small tufts of dust flying up in her wake.

Clan members ambled down the streets, with the men usually donning a lethargic expression as they drudged along and the women prattling on insistently. Kagome stepped timidly onto the sidewalk and kept her head down, save for her sharp eyes darting about to recognize a few plump Akimichi and a cluster of blonde Yamanaka clan members chatting excitedly.

Kagome dipped out of the crowds fluidly to take a side street, a few moments later the head Nara household came into view right on the very edge of the Nara district. With its back openly facing the grazing grounds of the Nara forest and its front barely fenced, she was within the front garden in a matter of steps.

Kagome froze however when two ANBU suddenly emerged…

With Shikaku nodding and having a very stern look marring his already scarred face.

She was too late.

"_Damnit!"_ And Kagome broke out into a run.

_No, no, no, no…!_

She pushed through the ANBU and stood before Shikaku with wide eyes. "What did they tell you?" She demanded before turning to a bird masked ANBU. "What did you tell him?" She gripped his vest hard but it was like shaking a statue.

"Kagome." Shikaku's gruff voice followed his hand gripping her shoulder and pulling her roughly back from the ANBU. "Please excuse us."

Both ANBU bowed before flickering out of sight.

Scarred knuckles caught in the corner of her eye and she whipped out of his grip, albeit a bit painfully. "I was just coming to tell you." She bit out with a glower which was only met with a furrowed brow and brown eyes.

"Tell me what?" Shikaku tilted his head.

Kagome gaped and pointed to the space behind her. "Didn't they… didn't you just find out about my healing?"

Shikaku nodded.

"And the how I might have a Kekkei Genkai."

He nodded again.

"And how I might have had a lapse of insanity."

Shikaku sighed and nodded.

Kagome blinked and waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Shikaku caught her hand, it engulfed hers and was roughly warm. "Kagome." He shook his head. "I just need to know that you're okay."

"I'm fine." She squeaked. "It's just Shikamaru threw a fit this morning and made it very clear that you were mad at me." _Again._

Shikaku shrugged and let her hand go, noticing on how bone-white her skin was nowadays. "It's Yoshino that's making a fuss about the Uchiha."

"So you don't care?" She deadpanned with hard eyes.

His brows shot up and a smirk knitted itself on his lips. "I wouldn't word it like that. They haven't given me a reason why I shouldn't let them be around you."

Kagome felt a tender ache subside in her chest, he seemed very reasonable and not utterly disappointed with her.

"Don't think you're getting off easy though…" He murmured with the sun slanting across his scarred face, half light, half dark. "I'm not the only one they told."

Kagome winced. "Is she inside?"

Shikaku nodded wearily. "Barricaded herself in our bedroom and told me to deal with you."

Kagome's nose wrinkled. "Why?"

He shrugged. "She wants you to go to the hospital."

Kagome shook her head at that. "She's so… _emotional_." She complained exasperatedly, recalling how Yoshino had always bothered her to eat more, sleep more, talk more, grow out her hair more…

Shikaku smirked. "Only the ones she loves are worth that much trouble for her."

"Aa… you're saying I'm troublesome, then?" Kagome stared out from under her messy bangs.

Shikaku hand landed on her scalp before he tousled her inky black locks. "Have been from the start."

Kagome felt a smile, lips with no teeth.

Shikaku stood over the small girl, in ways she was his daughter and in others, she was not. She was never one to blend right in, what with her deep dark hair and even deeper blue eyes. She'd never called him 'Tou-san' or Yoshino 'Kaa-san'. He never taught her how to walk or how to read and write. He only ever watched and tried so much as he could to stop the wolves of their world from devouring her. But it still didn't change the fact, that no matter what she did or who she met-

She always came back.

And in some ways, Shikamaru knew that. His son cared for her but resented her just as much and in the end, he too always went back to her no matter how troublesome she was.

And so they stood, the scarred Shinobi trying to be a father to the orphaned ANBU who no longer needed such a thing. The roofed in wooden balcony that encased the Nara household kept them out direct sunlight, save for Kagome's back and Shikaku's face. The light was heavy with the afternoon as it hung shadows deeply across slatted wood.

"What are you going to do?"

Shikaku looked past her and let his burly shoulders heave and settle in his usual exasperated shrug. "What do you want to do?" His voice intoned with a rasp.

Kagome smirked. "Pretend this conversation never happened."

Shikaku let out a gruff laugh. "Nice try." He slapped a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go, kid."

…

"Haruno Sakura."

"E-Excuse me." Stuttered the nurse at the front desk, who blushed immediately.

"Haruno Sakura, we won't see anyone else." Spoke the dark haired Uchiha who held a squirming blonde by the scruff of his orange and black jumpsuit. A tousle of sandy-sun blonde hair was all Naruto needed to get the nurse scrambling. After all a Jinchruuki in the hospital was a Jinchuuriki who needed immediate attention lest they invoked the demon inside of him.

The nurse blinked and straightened the ridiculous hat on her head before sifting through clipboards. "She's in civilian recovery, 4th floor… I can call her down."

Uchiha Sasuke said nothing and the nurse took this as preferable.

A quick call and minutes later revealed a very frazzled pink haired med-nin rushing out of the elevator. "Oh Kami, what did he tell you?" She scurried on up to her teammates with her lab coat flaring out behind her.

Naruto broke out of Sasuke's iron grip, now withstanding a bruised shoulder mind you. "Everything."

Sakura's eyes paled to a watery jade as she froze in front of them.

"Shisui told us _all_ about this morning, Sakura-chan." Naruto stared down on her. "He even said how you might have even gone blabbin' to baa-chan." His forehead leaned hard into hers, with eyes fiercely glaring back he gripped her shoulders tightly. "Well, did you?" When Sakura just stared numbly, Naruto shook her. "Did you?" His faced was contorted into a feral expression, with whisker marks jagged and pupil slit, he was just missing

"Naruto…" Sakura winced. "You're hurting me…"

A shadow materialized behind Naruto and turned him from a fuming Jinchuuriki to a puddle of blonde and orange. Shisui stepped over him, shaking his head. "He's been acting like a fuckin' psychopath since this morning."He plopped a sucker into his mouth. "Sorry I lagged behind for a second. Did you know they give away free lollipops here?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she rubbed her shoulders achingly. "What on earth happened to your eyes?" She finally noticed that Shisui was sporting two very fresh shiners and Naruto had one as well.

Shisui shrugged and sent a sidelong glance over to his brooding cousin. "You sure aren't the chivalrous type, are you?"

"Hn…" His eyes said everything. _She could've removed him herself._

Sakura wilted under Sasuke's heavy gaze. "I didn't want to hurt him, Sasuke!" She defended weakly. "If I would have so much as touched him wrong, he might have gone and sprouted four tails on us… _again_!"

Sasuke crossed his arms in his haori sleeves as his attention rescinded back and he effectively tuned his teammate out.

Sakura's pink brow knitted at Sasuke's sudden aloofness, he only did that when he was about to snap and that usually ended up with Naruto unconscious. However, considering _that_ was already taken care of, he most likely would engage Shisui…which Sakura couldn't gauge if that was bad or good… _yet._ "Is there a reason why you're so pissed off, Sasuke?" Sakura demanded. He seemed beyond soothing.

Sasuke's eyes didn't even waver from the wall behind her.

"Ah, ignore him Pinky." Shisui slugged a heavy arm around her slender frame. "He's worried about his brother, that's all… then add to the fact that Chibs ditched us and Whiskers has been acting up… well, you got one little pissed off Uchiha."

Sakura untangled herself from Shisui and stalked over to Naruto, who looked more asleep than 'knocked out', and proceeded to lift him up with the tips of her fingers. "Well come on then, I'll take you to him, Sasuke."

Shisui blinked all ends of his hair stuck up at that. "That smart ass is here?"

Sakura nodded as she pressed the elevator button. "Was ordered here by the Hokage, they've been running screening tests on him for over an hour now…" The metal doors opened with a ding and Sakura stepped in. The pair of Uchiha followed Sakura silently while she was carried a Jinchuuriki twice her size.

The doors slid close and Sakura chose the sixth level. "We need to head over to Shinobi Recovery if you want to see him now."

"Recovery?" Shisui wrinkled his nose. "Chibi healed him good as new."

"He's probably there because some of his teammates just got out of surgery." Sakura suggested pointedly.

Shisui fidgeted and scratched his neck guiltily. "Oh…"

"How many died?" Sasuke spoke from the back suddenly.

Sakura sighed and replied solemnly. "Three were lost on the battlefield; another was lost this morning during surgery." Sakura paused with eyes slipping to the floor, heavy and hooded. "We couldn't stop the bleeding…"

Shisui's head was low, he didn't say anything.

A ding resonated and the elevator came to a halt just as its metallic doors swung open to reveal the pristine white and relatively quiet floor.

Seasoned Med-nin usually worked this floor briefly, right after their long shifts in surgery, but it was the nurses who mainly patrolled and kept tabs on everyone.

So when Sakura stepped onto the sterile tile with an unconscious Jinchuuriki in hand and two moping Uchiha in her wake, she earned a few stares. Mainly from a cluster of nurses who scurried on over to her.

Sakura handed Naruto to them as if he were a teddy bear. "Strap him down to a gurney and when he wakes up, sedate him. Also… call in someone to get a chakra tag on him, I want him to be as calm as a little puppy."

Three nurses nodded and all struggled to lift the Jinchuuriki and get him properly detained.

Sakura jerked her head to the left and motioned for Shisui and Sasuke to follow.

They passed by rooms, most closed with only a few open, revealing men and women lying on white beds, with white sheets, wrapped in white bandages, surrounded by white walls. They were all motionless, with limbs suspended and sometimes entire faces covered or stitched, they looked like corpses already.

Sakura stopped suddenly, her dainty sandals made nimble footfalls against the tile. "Here," she motioned to the half opened door, cracked so that only a thin stream of light cut across her lab coat.

Shisui nodded rigidly and stepped forward without so much as a word, he entered and Sasuke followed him, but not without a final glance to Sakura.

Jade met obsidian, and Sakura saw something reflect in Sasuke's eyes that trembled beneath the surface.

_Fear. _

Sakura dismissed herself, dismissed the fact that Sasuke was petrified for his brother, maybe some found it heartwarming to know that each brother cared for the other endlessly, but to Sakura, it was heart wrenching. They lived so guarded to the other, so separated and yet so utterly dependent, their relationship was a painful one and Sakura pitied the both of them.

…

When Sasuke stepped into the room, he felt his eyes ache immediately.

The sun was beginning its initial descent into the horizon, so it blazed back directly into the room. He couldn't quite grasp the sight before him. The figures were amorphous ink blots surrounded by light as his eyes strained to catch their faces.

Eventually, slowly, they melded back to the familiar and his ears caught the murmurs of voices.

He recognized one of Itachi's subordinates, sitting peacefully with bandages stretched over his chalk white skin. Sai sent a fake smile his way. "Konnichiwa, Sasuke-kun." His voice was empty.

His eyes glided past, fixing Shisui's back within his sights. He was effectively blocking the one he was so anxious to see. Shisui stepped back after a thin hand pushed him gently aside.

And there he stood, with the sun behind him defiantly, was his brother.

"Itachi." His name tumbled off his tongue greedily.

He was alive.

Dark eyes met and Sasuke felt iron pool in his gut. He never seen his brother look so bare

With only fresh bindings strapped to his chest, his shoulders stuck out like clipped wings, just as bones and sinew streamlined together over slim muscle to the bare minimum. It was disturbing how thin Itachi looked, his eyes were deepened into his face, an effect that happened when he became overworked. Stress hollowed out his stoic face, with skin darkening underneath bottomless eyes, he looked empty inside.

Sasuke was literally twice his brother's size.

Save for the height, Itachi was always a good head taller. Which, despite the circumstances, was still grating his nerves.

"Otouto," Itachi spoke fluidly. Something warm lit up in his eyes. "Where is Naruto-kun?"

That made Sasuke blink. Who gave a shit where the Dobe might be, he was here, right now at _this _moment and this was the one fucking time he actually put himself out there and Itachi dismisses it…

"Out like a rock, he was starting to lash out." Shisui leaned against the wall with hands behind his neck. "You were right about it being related to Chibi, he got worse when he was around her."

So they had sensed too, did every ANBU know that the Dobe was having an off day?

"The Hokage is looking into the situation, Taicho?" Sai questioned absently from his bed.

Sasuke sent a look over to the pasty faced sociopath. The guy was a creep.

Itachi nodded silently, with eyelids dipping.

"So you did go to the Hokage." Shisui accused with a hard look. "What did she say?"

Sasuke visibly stiffened. "You went to the Hokage…?" His voice was utterly low.

Itachi spoke, his eyes looking past his brother. "It has been surmised that Higurashi-san has a seal similar to that of a Jinchuuriki. One that binds her true nature rather than a demon."

"—the hell?" Shisui looked aghast, he was not expecting that answer. "She would have some marking on her body then." He snubbed as though what he just said discredited everything. One just had to look at Naruto's belly to see his seal's mark.

"And how would you know this, Shisui-taicho?" Sai spoke once more.

"Well from what I saw earlier she definitely doesn't have anything-Woah! Stop looking at me like that." Shisui looked over to Sasuke, who was staring the straight and narrow glare of a thousand deaths, or that's what Shisui liked to call it. "What? You saw her too,_ brat. _We all kind of barged in on her when she just got out of the shower."

Itachi just stared, his eyes unreadable almost numbly blinking back at his cousin. "Is that so, Shisui?"

"Let's just pretend I never said that." Shisui ran a palm over his face. Why was it always _him_ who got into these awkward situations? It was like someone had actually spent the time and effort just to set him up.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted gruffly with arms crossing in his white haori sleeves, he turned his eyes back to his brother. "What exactly is sealed?"

"Hatake Kakashi suggests her memories; however the Hokage believes that it may be much more."

"Like her super mega healing abilities?" Shisui took a guess.

"Perhaps..." Itachi's eyes darkened at that. "Though, the Hokage did strike a valid point."

"And that would be?"

"Healing, no matter the form, never has such adverse effects on the healer." Itachi walked silently over to the window, his back was but a stark outline to the dying daylight.

Shisui nodded and turned to Sasuke who looked like he was about to vouch for Kagome's sanity. "Ask Sakura if you don't believe us, but Chibs was like a walking corpse this morning."

"Higurashi-san sacrificed a part of herself to save me, Sasuke." A crescent of a cheek and the tips of eyelashes were all he saw of Itachi's profile.

"Stop calling her that." Sasuke spat.

That caught Shisui off guard, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the scalding remark.

Itachi turned, like a ghost on a swivel, his dark eyes slid over to him.

_If she saved your life…"_She has a name…" His voice was sure and deep. "You're just too frightened to say it." _Acknowledge your relationship._

The accusation was sharp and clear.

Itachi's lips twitched into a simper. "I've said her name, otouto… _many times._"

…

If Naruto was in any pain, he sure did not show it.

What worried Sakura more than his impending concussion was him drowning in his own drool. Two nurses lingered behind her, peering over her shoulders. Moegi included, with a clipboard hugged to her chest, she leaned over to get a look.

"Are those fangs?" Moegi's pink cheeks brightened when Naruto fussed suddenly as she got too close. The other nurses jumped as well.

Sakura stuck a tongue compressor into his gaping mouth. "Yep, looks like it." She chimed as his jaw revealed a gleaming set of teeth with his canines perfectly elongated into discreet fangs. "Look at the lips, Moegi-chan. The darkening of the skin is a telltale sign of Kyuubi's influence."

Moegi nodded and took notes anxiously.

"I thought he was wearing lip liner…" Drawled a nurse from behind.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Pay attention, the more we can account for, the more able our ANBU will be able to identify Jinchuuriki outbursts."

"Can't they just tell with the chakra?" Moegi suggested earnestly.

"Hai, but Naruto's seal is different, chakra fluctuations are very common for him as he can access Kyuubi's chakra all the more readily." Sakura informed them all, this was turning into more of a lecture than a detainment. "Now to check the eyes, the iris especially along with the pupils will show signs of discoloration and possible contraction or dilation." Sakura plucked an eyelid up, the other was swelling viciously and may have to be lanced soon unless Naruto wanted to be one eyed for the next week. Sakura shined a light into the lolling eye, until it responded very readily to her by contracting to a slit-like pupil. "See here, now what does that remind you of?"

Moegi peered over. "A cat?"

Sakura paused, _not quite_. "And look at the iris."

The orange haired Genin examined Naruto's eye, it was its usual blue save it was muddled and glazed over but there was a dribble of red trickling through the tissue. Like blood to water, it wafted through and clung onto the fibers, staining them a deep scarlet. "It's turning red, Sempai."

Sakura nodded. "Hai, now look at his nails."

Moegi glance down to his hands, also strapped to the gurney, where the tips became pointed. His nails had become claws. Her eyes widened.

"He looks like a demon." A nurse pointed out.

"He _is_ a demon." Quipped another.

Sakura whipped around, jade eyes hard. "Out. All of you! This is an unbiased observation, if you can't take it seriously than you have no right to be here." So much for making it a learning experience.

The small cluster of white hats and scrubs stalked away stubbornly.

Moegi stayed and kept on taking notes diligently. "Sempai, is it possible for the Jinchuuriki to influence its demon?"

Sakura stalled at that. "What an interesting question, Moegi-chan…" It was obviously possible the other way around, Kyuubi's will and chakra bled through the seal and seeped into Naruto, who soaked it up like a sponge. It was a very valid question. "But I have to say no, Moegi-chan, I don't think it's possible."

Moegi blinked. "Why?" She asked innocently.

"Well the Kyuubi is just a mass of hatred and chakra, Moegi-chan." At least that was what she was told. "No one can influence that or attempt to even change it."

Moegi shook her head. "I don't believe that."

Sakura raised a brow. "There's nothing to believe, that's a fact of life, of our world."

"It's too pointless. Everything has a purpose, even demons, Sempai."

"Their purpose is as vital as a tsunami or an earthquake. It's just a natural disaster that plagues us and we have learned to adapt to them." By sealing them in freshly born children whose bodies barely contain a soul to conflict with the demon's transition. It was barbaric. "So no, I don't believe that you could change a demon, just as you could alter a hurricane."

Moegi pursed her lips. "Hm. But tsunamis and earthquakes can't talk or manipulate people…" There was more to them, there had to be.

Sakura sighed with her hands stuffing themselves into her coat pockets. "You just don't get it Moegi-chan."

Moegi shrugged, maybe she didn't or maybe what she was suggesting was too much for anyone to handle. Demons were evil things, just masses of hatred and chakra that learned how to talk. To go beyond that meant it left many doors unchecked and open, ones that might blur the boundaries of absolute good and pure evil. "Uh… Sempai…" Moegi knew trouble when she saw it, even if it didn't really pertain to her.

"What is it?" Sakura fitted a nicely sized syringe up for Naruto, it was enough to knock out an elephant.

"I just saw a girl with Nara Shikaku. She's my age."

"Eh?" Sakura paused with a glistening needle dripping. "How did he look?"

"Uh… not very happy." Yep, he looked kind of grumpy but then again he always looked like that.

"Aa, well as long as he doesn't head over to that room full of Uchiha we should be fine."

Moegi nodded. "Right, right…"

Sakura pushed up Naruto's sleeve and prostrated his arm. He was starting to make the first indications of getting up. "Hm, Moegi-chan?"

"Hai, Sempai?"

"_Were_ they heading to the room filled with pissy Uchiha?"

"Hai, they were Sempai…" Moegi admitted.

"Ah, I see." Sakura plopped the syringe in Moegi's untrained hands. "Sedate Naruto before he wakes up and if you miss the vein, he'll try to rip out your throat. Good luck, Kohai!"

And she was gone in a pink flash.

…

Despite the fact that Shikaku's attitude did a 180 on her and in her favor for that matter, still didn't change the fact that she was still very annoyed about the entire situation. She rather disliked the idea of being marched into Konoha's hospital like a stubborn child and Shikaku demanding for a checkup and a message to the Hokage that the situation was taken care and she did _not_ have to intervene.

Kagome snorted at that, since when did the Hokage ever _not_ intervene?

So Shikaku marched her on with his hand still solidly glued to her shoulder like she might run away, which was true in a sense, she didn't quite enjoy hospitals but she didn't detest them either. Just the memories, always the memories here, she hated the most.

Kagome felt Naruto's presence close by, but it was blurry and faded, most likely sedated or unconscious or both. Sasuke's was muddled, suppressed but flittering in and out irritatingly.

But they were on completely different sides of the building.

Shikaku and her were escorted over to a private room, pristinely white with no windows and checkup table with a single chair were the only things there. A nurse slipped out with a smile. "Your results will take some time to decipher."

Shikaku nodded but didn't say anything.

Kagome swung her legs from the table. They had taken blood from her and ran a few chakra sensory tests. Usually these things took time but when the Hokage was personally presiding over it, it was practically instant.

She rubbed her arm, it felt useless and oddly sore where they pricked her. She hated needles.

"I'm going to the bathroom." She announced and hopped off the table with thud.

Shikaku nodded and reclined back to catch some shut eye while she slipped out silently. She treaded across tile with fingers skimming cool walls and eyes darting down halls and into rooms.

She found her way to them easily enough, even with their signatures completely masked and out of sight, like air to dust, only the faintest hints of their existence was palpable. It was them, their _presence _she was drawn to it like a moth to a flame and she swore if she closed her eyes, she could see them.

But for now, she let her senses guide her, ones that were surfacing all too new and _awake._

She found herself in their doorway without as much as a glance.

She saw Sasuke's back first. His haori, white and probably gaping at the chest to reveal bindings, was emblazoned with the Uchiwa fan on its nape. His shoulders were rigid and jutted out beneath the fabric tensely. Shisui was leaning against the wall, eyes set on Sasuke as if he might strike out. Each of them was a stark shadow, like inkblots to paper, they blemished the sunlight.

She waited, until Shisui's eyes slid over to her. He always had dark and warm grey eyes, unlike Sasuke or Itachi, whose were black and utterly unreadable at times.

But Shisui smiled genuinely back, his crooked smile that could melt any woman's heart but she found it ridiculous how he could get so happy from the simplest of things. He reminded her of a dumb puppy. Hadn't they just seen each other an hour ago?

Sasuke turned, not completely, but the outline of his face was cold and he looked so much older then.

Shisui's smile faltered, his eyes flittering to his left for the briefest of moments.

Kagome knew he was there, amidst them, behind them, standing in their shadows and choosing to never reveal himself too quickly. Sasuke parted bitterly, his eyes were harsh as he let Kagome take in the sight of his brother.

And there he stood.

Kagome felt the smallest smile spread over her lips and light up her chest. He looked utterly horrible, but he was alive and that all mattered. Even in plain chest bindings, the fact that she saw the slightest of breaths shift his sinewy shoulders, brought a light feeling right up to her ears.

She was able to look at him without succumbing to an overwhelming font of emotion that threatened to drown and break her all at the same time. She felt sure, more solid about this moment. For in this moment, no one was going to die or lose their mind.

It was all so maddening, normal people didn't have to deal with these kind of things.

She stepped timidly forward. "Is Naruto alright?" Her voice sounded so small, like a child.

Sasuke gave a silent nod, and as usual Shisui elaborated on his cousins' lack of conversational skills. "Had to knock him out, he was about to take a bite out of Pinky."

Kagome winced visibly, she stood silent for a moment, with eyes graying. "Is it true?" Her gaze fell meekly on Itachi, who hadn't taken his eyes off of her. "Did you go to the Hokage about me?" His eyes were so heavy, it was suffocating for him to look at her.

Itachi nodded. "You will not be exploited. I won't allow it."

Shisui rolled his eyes with a grunt.

Kagome marched forward, her small body slipping through and placing itself in between the three Uchiha. "You should've asked… I trusted you." Her voice was breaking. "You have no idea what I went through last time." With the Hokage, with the Council, with her family. "It was never about exploiting me, its always been about power… whoever had power over me, had complete control over my life because I wasn't trusted with it any longer." She was panting heavily.

Shisui shook his head solemnly. "You see. This is what happens when you all go off and no one listens to me."

"Nobody ever listens to me." Kagome's voice was pleading, "—and nobody thought to ask?"

"Ask you what Chibs?" Shisui's face fell, he looked worried.

"You never asked…about what_ I_ knew." She mumbled, swaying on her feet.

Sasuke's eyes immediately flick down to her. "You know what happened?" It was more of an accusation, a harsh one at that.

She shrugged, lissome shoulders stuck out as they lifted in a sagged in a wearisome motion. "I've been piecing it together since the day I arrived here…"-_so young and impressionable, years and years ago._

Shisui gripped her shoulder, she staggered back. "Chibs, tell us what you know." This could've saved a lot of time but heaven forbid Itachi overlooked something.

She ducked out of his grasp. "Doesn't matter anymore, what little I was able to figure out won't compare to what they will find." _When they pry it out of me._

"Tell us." Itachi spoke somberly, his voice carrying perfectly through the air.

"Now you want to know?" She snapped, low and tight. She took a breath. "You have no idea how bad it really is… that's what I know. I know… and I'm terrified of it." Kagome's eyes were wide and she was trembling. "You have no idea… absolutely no fucking idea." Angry hot tears streamed past. "So don't tell me… you want to know."

Something in the air chilled.

Shisui stiffened. "Chibs calm down…" His gut was telling him something bad was with her mood.

"Kagome." Sasuke made a grab for her, but she stepped away.

Instead Kagome stepped towards Itachi, trembling and terrified, he had no idea what she was going through but he was like a rock in her storm. Even if he was the cause of it.

_She felt the torrents within herself raging out of control, lashing out and waiting…_

So she reached out for him.

…_to strike._

It happened too quickly.

He reached back.

_Because he always would._

And with the slightest touch.

**.**

**.**

With the tips of her fingers brushing his knuckles—

**.**

**.**

'_It has been surmised that Higurashi-san has a seal similar to that of a Jinchuuriki. One that binds her true nature rather than a demon.'_

**_._**

**_._**

Itachi fainted.

* * *

**Author's Note:** OMFG! What just happened? Itachi what did Kagome do to you? …lol Am I the only one who thinks that Itachi fainting is funneh? Anyways next chapter, we see Shisui get mean cause he's protective of Itachi (Shisui is anything but a flat)! Ita/Kag fluff! Semi-explanations cause nobody knows what the fuck is going on anymore and dun dun dun…! Yui makes her appearance…and she's staying. Oh and people have been asking for Omakes. Which I'll be happy to drabble on up but the real question is 'will you guys actually read em?' lotsdilovelove~KK

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

45+ = _Wednesday,_ **September 8**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **September 22**(One month)

20+= _Wednesday_, **October 20**(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **November 10 **(Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Sunday, August, 15**_


	14. These Dying Doves Parting

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

* * *

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

_**Border, Tsuchi no Kuni**_

_**5 months ago..**_

"_Stop!"_

Kagome barely coughed it out.

Deidara glanced up with eyes gleaming with the _fight_ and his hands twitching with the half-molded lump of clay. "You've got to be kidding me, yeah?"

Kagome shook her head furiously. "Let him go." She shivered in her hooded cloak, the snow was wailing on them and the blown area of fractured rock. _"Please."_

With a frustrated sigh, Deidara's vicious grip slacked on the hunter-nin's hair. "Fine," and then proceeded to drive the noh-masked face into his knee with a blurred movement and a sickening _crack._

The man slumped to the snow, with hot bloodied bits of porcelain melting the fresh ice.

Kagome gasped in a watery yelp.

"What?" Deidara whipped around to her, the gash along his hairline was streaming near his eyes and his face was bright red, making his anger all the more tangible and _unhinged. _"You can't just let everyone live, not when they want to fucking kill you!"

Kagome eyes dipped to the ground, with soft bits of snow peppering her thick black lashes, she replied, "I know…" But the more who died, the harder it would be for Konoha to pick up the mess and cover up what happened.

"You're weird, yeah," Deidara stated bluntly as the sting of hot blood in his eyes took full effect. "We have to kill them…why can't you get that?"

Kagome said nothing and merely stared into the unblemished snow, fresh and unbroken, she wanted nothing more than to sink into it, into the pure white and become _nothing—_ "We need to get back to Kaminari," she stated suddenly, with eyes perking up.

Deidara sighed, "why is it so urgent to get back to_ Lightning_ anyway, yeah?

Kagome stilled, because that was where her mission was located. The one she was probably assumed dead on by now… "Because… because I—I…"

Deidara sighed, "listen, I already know. You're a really bad liar, yeah."

"Know what?" Kagome demanded.

"You're not a part of Root, you're Black Ops, have been from the start, yeah…"

"What are you saying?" She asked cautiously, with footsteps already skimming the snow for a better footing.

Deidara grunted and swiped his eyelids clean. "That you're probably on some _top-secret_ mission or some other bullshit that you keep on telling me… your name probably isn't even Kikyo is it, hm?"

* * *

**-Chapter Fourteen-**

These Dying Doves Parting

* * *

_I kiss his hands because he's beautiful—_

_I hold yours, because I feel guilty. _

* * *

_**Present…**_

It was certainly the most horrifying thing he had yet to witness…

His brother falling to the floor like a corpse; added to the fact that Kagome crying his name in the most agonizing fashion, also made it all the more worse and Sasuke's insides drop to the floor.

What happened?

What had_ just_ happened?

His mind was frantic with the possibilities all leading to Itachi's untimely—

No. That would not happen, not yet, not _now._

Itachi would have broken a nose if Kagome hadn't taken the brunt of it and catch him. She was now currently splayed over him, panting and both tangled on the floor.

Kagome's eyes were wide,_ breaking_. "W-What… did I do?" She sputtered, looking at his serene face.

Shisui lifted her off in flash. "Fuck! Get off! You have to stop touching him Chibs!" Shisui bellowed as she tried to resist at first. Shisui held her limply, she hung like a ragdoll in his arms and his brother looked just as superior unconscious as he did awake.

Nurses passed and looked in while Sakura stampeded straight to unconscious Uchiha prodigy. "What happened?" She demanded. The racket could be heard across the entire building. She'd been running around this entire floor looking for a girl who had supposedly '_gone to the bathroom' _or at least that's what Shikaku had said when she had interrupted his nap; only to find Kagome having a meltdown, Shisui frantic and Sasuke comatose.

"I don't know, Chibs just touched him and he passed out!" His voice was frantic, as he handed the shrinking Kagome over Sasuke like she might catch him on fire.

Sasuke took her numbly, her eyes were closed so tight he was sure her eyes would never open again. _"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"_ She whispered sharply into his neck.

He remembered Naruto holding her like this. Their conversation had been so private. Sasuke's eyes closed as he let a hand rest on her back, with her spine rippling beneath his fingers and her hair gliding over his skin, he was…

Sakura's voice brought his attention back to the world. "He's alive."She was checking Itachi's pulse. "His blood pressure is normal." A couple nurses trickled in but didn't dare approach the stoic and dark Uchiha.

Shisui helped her get him up and onto the other vacant bed by the window. Shisui was able to coordinate a bit better by looping a long limb over his neck, leaving Sakura fumbling to stand tall enough. Itachi was laid on the sheets serenely, hands splayed over bound ribs and hair pooling out in thin tendrils.

Shisui scratched his neck. "I have no fucking idea what just happened, but I should've grabbed her earlier…"

Sakura was doing a few sensory tests. "He's out like a light…" She shook her head. "What do you mean?" They made it sound like Kagome was at fault. "Tell me exactly what happened."

A few nurses timidly stepped forward and started to hook an IV.

"It was like… I don't know how to explain, but you could only _sense_ it." Not see it, no. It was in the air and it was _cold_. Like the tip of an iceberg, it had only been the briefest hints of what lay beneath.

Sakura nodded, her fingertips glowing to life with a soft green glow as she hovered over the unconscious prodigy. The other nurses were busy hooking up the lithe Uchiha to all sorts of monitoring equipment.

"Is that all really necessary?"Shisui groaned, looking anywhere but at Kagome.

"He could have a brain aneurysm for all we know."Sakura snapped.

Sasuke stepped back at that and Kagome tightened up like a rock at those words.

Sai blinked with a tilted head, he was practically invisible until he spoke. "This is unfortunate." His calm voice was odd against the chaos.

Sakura jumped at the sudden voice. "Oh… it's _you_." She glowered at Sai, who still sat diligently in recovery despite the commotion in his room.

"Hai, Taichou decided to visit me during my recovery process and was soon joined by Shisui-Taichou and Sasuke-kun." His black eyes flicked over to Kagome and blinked.

Kagome's puffing face stuck out and _blinked_ back at Sai. Sasuke's back was facing him and the Uchiha was utterly still at that moment.

Sai tilted his head when Kagome tucked her eyes away from him into the crook of Sasuke's neck.

Nothing else was said between the two of them.

Shisui finally snapped. "He can't die!"

"He's not going to die!" Sakura yelled over the heads off the wincing nurses.

"And if he does?"

"Stop saying that!" Kagome shouted back and pulled herself off of Sasuke. Untangling herself from the heavy arms and the dark eyes which were emptying with every movement she made away from him, she pushed through Shisui and the nurses…

Shisui caught her wandering hand. "Fuck! Stop _that_!" He hissed. "Kami only knows what you just did."

Kagome's nails bit into the metal bedrail, why was she aching, yenning to just _touch_ him again. "I-I…I was mad, that's all."

"Well you must have been pretty fucking mad," he muttered, eyes trained on Itachi's closed lids. They were trembling; his eyes were moving rapidly beneath. "Oi! Is that normal?"

Sakura glanced down. "It's REM, he's asleep."

Kagome shook her head slowly. "It's not normal if he's unconscious…" Kagome sufficed with eyes sinking in and dark tendrils cupping her cheeks. Like ink to paper. "REM means rapid eye movement, he's dreaming..."

"How the fuck can he be in Lala Land in two seconds flat after Chibs knocked him out?"

Sakura's brow knitted together. "What did _she _do?" No one had any clear answers.

"It was like a flux of some energy, it went right through the air… and into…" Shisui's face slacked at the sudden revelation. "Shit! Check his eyes, damn it!"

Sakura placed her hands over Itachi's lids and her fingertips flared to life as her face crumpled in concentration.

"Is there something wrong?" Kagome begged. "Sakura?" she demanded, they all had no idea how awful she was feeling. "Sakura!"

Sakura paled. "All of you, get out! Now!"

…

He usually didn't dream.

But apparently usual shouldn't be a term for him any longer, no, no…

He shouldn't have used it in the first place. But at least he could fairly recognize a dream when he had one; and so Itachi played out his dream, like an actor to a play, he did all the motions to the memory that flickered past.

"Ita-chan, Ita-chan… what are you doing?" hummed his mother from the yawning doorway.

His toes wiggled, as he whipped around caught in the act. "Nothing," he said simply.

Mikoto chuckled as she caught Itachi leaning over his little brother's crib _again._ "Don't wake up your otouto from his nap."

"I won't." He was always very quiet; he could practically sneak up on otou-san, which startled him to no end.

Mikoto ambled over and crouched down next to her son. "You still want an imouto?" She smirked.

Itachi shrugged.

"Don't worry, Itachi you'll find her one day…" She mused at her son's brooding face.

"How will I know though?" Itachi insisted.

Mikoto pondered. "Hm, she'll call you beautiful…" She hummed cheerily. "Any woman who can forsake her own vanity for you, will make for a wonderful wife."

Itachi wrinkled his nose and resumed looking resolutely at his brother. What a stupid statement, boys were _handsome_, not _beautiful._

Mikoto tucked a piece of hair back behind his ears. "You don't like your otouto?" He seemed so unhappy with everything nowadays.

Itachi shook his head.

"Do you love your otouto?"

Itachi shrugged _again._

Mikoto blinked but smiled anyway. "You're an old soul, Ita-chan. Very special too."

Well that wasn't a compliment, from what he had learned, having an old soul meant you kept making the same mistakes over and over again. "Is… Sasuke special too?"

Mikoto's cheery face faltered. This was his first time her son had said his newborn brother's name. "Not quite, Ita-chan but that's why you're his big brother."

His little brows drew together.

"You'll need to protect him, even if that means being a little hard on him."

Itachi looked down at the babe sleeping, fat cheeked and with the oddest hair, he lay completely unaware. "He'll be strong, Okaa-san."

Mikoto nodded and wrapped an arm around her docile son. "Hai, but you'll always be stronger…"

The scene faded out like ink dissolving into water and he found himself standing on the precipice of a shattered building…

Wind whipped and roared, the ground thundered and split. Mountains swayed and wilted under the moon. He could hear it, the roars of the demon; it was but a dot of red in the distance, one that sent tremors through the earth and down his spine.

"Itachi!" A boy yelled, bounding over the shattered buildings, he stopped before the four year old prodigy.

"Shisui." He nodded to his cousin. "What is that?"

His cousin looked over in the distance, you could practically see the fox's flaming red tails now. "It's the Kyuubi, we need to go." He pulled on the small boys arm. "Everyone has already been evacuated."

But Itachi stood motionless, with a young face and old eyes. "If it comes any further, we'll be dead anyways, Shisui." Evacuating was only postponing the inevitable.

"Then spend your last minutes with your family!" Shisui smacked him on the back of the head. "C'mon!" He pulled him back but the earth rattled then as well, knocking Shisui off his feet and Itachi with him.

Itachi's last image was of the stars, with pinpricks of light littering the velvet and reflecting back into his eyes, he thought he was going to die at that moment.

And fear laced itself through his heart, fully and truly for the first time in his young life.

They fell off the building, two boys both falling into a world of demons and monsters...

They just couldn't tell the difference yet.

Everything went black after that.

…

They had literally been thrown out.

With Shisui being the hardest to move, Sasuke and her had eventually conceded to the fact that whatever was happening, Sakura needed to deal with _it_ rather than _them._

Shisui was pacing, frantically up and down the hallway with his boots thudding across the tile and echoing throughout the halls.

Sasuke's face was cradled in his palms as he massaged his temples. He hadn't spoken to her either.

Kagome simply sat, back against the wall as she sat next to Sasuke on the bench. Her eyes were still staring, unblinkingly at the door. Shadows moved from behind, their voices dull murmurs and frantic movements.

It was odd, but Shisui had turned rather cold towards her. She was used to his rough kindness, unending and genuine, but now with Itachi, the one he was sworn to always protect since childhood, in danger because of her…

Well, the tables had turned and now Shisui regarded her rarely, save for that cautious glance that was chilled with distrust.

Shikaku had come by earlier, moments before actually he had wondered why she was outside with two Uchiha and looking like she'd seen a ghost.

Sasuke hadn't even looked up and Shisui weakly greeted him. "My cousin has just been pulled into an emergency operation, Shikaku-san." He apologized.

Shikaku conveyed his condolences as if he were already dead and then turned to Sasuke and Kagome. "Tell your father I will meet with him whenever the situation with your brother is resolved." Shikaku shuffled awkwardly, he was never one to be ever concerned about others truly.

Sasuke nodded with heavy eyes and let his own eyes land on Kagome when Shikaku walked away with little to nothing said to Kagome. "Will you leave?"

Kagome startled at that and hurt was threading itself in grey coils in her eyes. "I can, if you want." She muttered meekly, feeling a gaping gulf spreading between them.

Sasuke shook his head, his deep set eyes laying on her. "You seem to only remain when my brother is around," he spoke under his breath.

Kagome brought her legs up to her chest. "I don't know what you want me to say, Sasuke…" His name rested on her tongue, soft and sad. It wasn't a pleasant mixture to hear.

"That you're closer with my brother." Sasuke sat back with a resigned sigh.

"This isn't some competition," she whispered fiercely. His words confused her.

Sasuke crossed his arms and closed his eyes after she said that.

Whatever was unsaid, Kagome wanted to keep it that way. _Unsaid._

The possibilities were too outlandish.

"How is Naruto?" She asked, her voice muffled by her knees.

Shisui paused in his steps. "Fine, better off then…" He trailed when the closed door they'd been staring at for the better half of the hour opened.

Sakura emerged from the room, eyes faded and looking at them with flittering looks. "I need to get Shizune to look at this…" She started down the hall, walking away from them…

"Sakura!" Kagome was reaching for her.

She turned with a wide desperate look. "I…I'm sorry."And she hurried down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

Shisui leapt at the chance to get in there-

Only to have the door shut in his face by a mob of nurses.

"Oi!" He pounded on the door. "Wait until my Clan hears about this!" They did have his heir in there after all.

Kagome looked up at Shisui then. "You're going to tell them?" Her voice broke out into a whine.

"No." Sasuke's voice was stone. "No one is going to hear of this."

"What? That he passed out due to dehydration?" Shisui smirked. "Why else would he pass out randomly in the midst of us harmless spectators and concerned well-wishers?" It wasn't entirely that inconceivable that the great Uchiha Itachi, the prodigy of prodigies had overlooked his intake of fluids…

"Shisui…" Kagome groaned with her face buried into her palms. It was a horrible cover story, but nonetheless he was back from that callous man who had gripped her all too harshly, leaving her skin raw and ears burning from his obscenities.

"Yeah, Chibs…?"

"Shut up."

The tension only built on after that.

Minutes passed and the three raven haired shinobi only looked up when voices were heard off in the distance, resonating throughout the halls.

"Are you sure?" Shizune rounded the corner first.

Sakura followed suit, her lab coat flaring behind. "Yes, yes… but you need to look at it, Sempai."

Shizune paused before the trio waiting outside. "Ah… you three."

Shisui leveled her with a look. "Well…"

"I'll let you know when I'm done inspecting his eyes." Shizune ducked out of the crossfire.

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Kagome shot up.

Sakura waved them to be quiet. "Sh…" And scurried in after Shizune with the door slamming in all of their faces.

Shisui groaned and tousled his hair as he repeatedly hit his head on the wall with resonant thuds. "This is driving me insane…"

Kagome sat back hollowly and with eyes settling back on the door, she drew her knees up to her chest once more. Her eyes strayed to Sasuke momentarily, his eyes were momentarily closed and his face was drawn up into that brooding expression he wore all too well under stress and frustration.

Worry, because of his brother and disappointment, because of her.

_Never enough._ She let her hand float over to his, limp and warm, she threaded her fingers over his large calloused palm. _Nothing will ever be enough for you._

Their eyes met, his deep and full while hers were pale and brittle.

They were afraid.

Sasuke took her delicate hand into his, bone white and thin, it made his own blanched skin look sunkissed when their skin touched. It was barely noticeable but as he held her chilled fingers close to his thigh, Kagome noticed a tenseness release from him.

It didn't matter what it was, Sasuke would always be jealous of Itachi.

No matter what he had.

Even if it was a mere closeness to a girl, they hardly knew. Sasuke wanted it.

Resigned to that fact, Kagome closed her eyes feeling as though the gulf between them would never be crossed…

The door opened suddenly after an unmeasured amount of time and three ANBU stilled before Shizune.

Shizune stood, with a gaping door and the window behind her and a sunset as her blood-red halo. "There was damage…" She admitted. "But we were able to salvage his Kekkei Genkai…"

"What are you saying?"

Shizune overlooked Shisui, her eyes lingering on Kagome. "Kagome…"

Kagome nodded, she was ready to face facts.

…

…

…

"You nearly blinded him…"

…

_The Sharingan is not automatically activated in the user by birth. _

_It is only first unlocked under some stressful or emotional condition, after which, the Sharingan may be used freely. _

_When the Sharingan is first activated by a user, it has a different number of tomoe around the central pupil, varying between users. _

_The wielder of the Sharingan, through continued use and training, evolves it further which involves gaining more tomoe, up to a maximum of three per eye._

_As the Sharingan evolves, the user gains heightened abilities._

…

He once heard that if you died in your dreams, you died in reality.

One was never supposed to die in an illusion, no. In reality, yes; but Kami forbid you live out your death in a figment of your imagination.

Thankfully, he knew he wasn't going to die, for this was far from a dream.

It was a memory.

Shisui was unconscious next him, split skin just on his hairline let a red tide flush down his cheek. His cousin was a contorted gangly mass, harpooned on rock and what looked like a severed spinal cord…

He looked dead.

He on the other hand had landed rather roughly; with chakra bursting at the seams on the soles of his feet, he merely broken his wrist when it had absorbed most of his fall.

The earth was rumbling, the demon encroaching now and all he could do was lay there, young and fresh, broken and bloodied, with dark old eyes, he stared up.

The night was full, laden with that heavy moon and he wondered if Sasuke was crying right now?

Probably not, even with an impending death by the fangs of an ancient demon…

His brother would still be asleep.

What was he now? It was October, that made Sasuke barely three months in a few weeks.

A roar from a red whipping blur jostled his thoughts. Shisui had been right after all, he should be spending his last moments with his brother…

The stars were swirling, darkening as the smoke choked their little throats. He was going to die here.

"Your cousin will die unless you move."

Itachi's eyes slid over to the voice, like the roars of a demon, the screams of stars or the whispers of the wind, the voice pierced them all.

He was perched just across the shattered courtyard, like a raven admiring a carcass, he was cloaked in black with a grotesque mask to cover his face.

"I see fear in your eyes."

Itachi sat up stiffly with his wrist cradled in his lap, he looked directly at the stranger. "Are you another demon?" he rasped.

There was a dark chuckle. "_No_… far from it."

Itachi said nothing; his eyes were up at the stars again.

"Looking to the heavens again, I see." The cloaked man leaped and time stilled when he landed. "Always searching… always waiting… your soul will tire eventually of this."

He wasn't listening.

The man _tsk'ed _behind his mask at the roars of the fox. "Amazing how if you give a… _dog_ a name…" He turned to Itachi. "He'll be loyal to you for rest of its days."

"You sent the demon." Itachi said listlessly.

"Aa… though I only was the messenger. The fox barely needed any _coaxing_ once I told him of what this village held." The man glided over the ground silently. "Beautiful isn't it? What will drive a monster more? Love or hatred? Tell me Itachi."

_Of course_ he would know his name. "How would I know such a thing?" His voice was sharp, lilting and young.

"Because only monsters know of such things…" He hummed, his voice resonating through the night.

"I am no monster," he clipped.

"Oh but you are Itachi…you just don't know it yet…" The man's single eyelet flared to life, lambent like the embers to a fire, his iris bled red as tomoe swam like tadpoles in blood.

"You're an Uchiha." Itachi was standing, positioning himself in between the man and his cousin.

The man said nothing to that, simply quoted as his palm splayed itself to the stars. "Years slip by, _lifetimes_… and yet you still haven't found a single trace of her…"

"Riddles? Why do you talk as if you're insane?" His voice was thin, youth withholding a strong resonance.

"No, not riddles…not insanity either…" The Sharingan split and the tomoe hollowed. _"Eien no Mangekyo Sharingan." _

Itachi stumbled, his small frame wilting under the gaze of this man.

"You feel it, don't you?" The man's voice was devoid of all mocking humor, he was staring at him, with a single mutated Sharingan and it was drawing something out… "Why don't you activate it? Why wait the _years,_ when your soul has already mastered it and then gone beyond?"

The man was barely inches away now, a gripping pain threaded itself in Itachu's skull, it pulled and knotted, as it tethered itself to his eyes…

He gripped his skull and let out a strangled scream. _"Stop!"_

"Look at me." The man's voice thundered.

He couldn't bear to even open his eyes. The pain was increasing, it was like fire was carving its way into his eye sockets—

"Look at me, Itachi…"

That grotesque mask, that mutated Sharingan…

"And know that it is Uchiha Madara that gave this to you…"

Itachi screamed.

…

_Uchiha Itachi mastered the Sharingan at the age of eight._

_It is currently unknown at what age he activated his Kekkei Genkai_.

…

Slowly, very slowly he was lulled into consciousness with eyes glazed, already searching, Itachi shifted under the thin coverlets.

The room was dark, but his eyesight adjusted quickly enough, the village lights shined in through the window as he quickly caught sight of the little lump huddled over his waist.

He spied Sasuke in the corner of his eye, sitting cross armed and head bowed, he was sleeping.

His brother was _always _the heavy sleeper in the family…

Apparently, even when the apocalypse was upon them.

The weight nestled further into his stomach and Itachi waited until two anomalous eyes peered out from the tiny mound of black hair. The creature blinked at him and the warmth pooled into his eyes and a hand rested on her head. Her hair was like watery silk, dark and soft as he let it slide under his long fingers in inky currents.

Her eyes were pale, brittle and almost painful to look at. He could sense the ache in her, that worry that would have sickened him if it had been anybody else. That hollow desperate feeling that held strong in her chest, so much so that to ease it she had to splay herself over him.

A soul reaching out for a soul.

With only their bodies being barriers, it was excruciating.

She sighed under his hand, like a purring cat despite the painful expression glistening in her eyes and pooling in her ribs, she still put on the content façade.

"_I'm so sorry."_ It came out to quickly, it was sharp against her lips and she buried into him.

Itachi shifted underneath. Her head was dangerously close to more intimate areas…

"Kagome." But she had arms tangled around him and hands gripping tight. He jerked her head in his direction roughly. "Kagome." His voice commanded in the darkness.

Her eyes slowly slid open, thick lashes were spiked from tears and her pupils were gaping to catch every detail of his face. "They said I nearly blinded you…" she whispered weakly.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked with warmth in his voice.

"Because…they said…" They explained how his optic nerve and retina had been… "Damaged. That's all they could explain."

"Purified is much more accurate term…"His eyes were heavy and he tilted his head slightly.

"What?" She startled at his words, sitting up in her chair that was situated right by his bed. His hand fell from her but hers lingered on him. "Why did you say that?" She was _detaching_ herself from him, with sheets rustling and her eyes quivering.

With eyes glistening in the meager light he spoke brusquely, his voice usually light and crisp was weighed down by weariness. "… you already know this, your memories are far from lost." His voice was husky and dazed.

Kagome whipped her wrist out his grasp, but not without a pull of tendon. "I remember _enough."_

"Enough?" He spoke so softly, his words were dead. Then suddenly his eyes were on her, forcing hers to meet his and then his Sharingan flared. "If you ever lie to me again…" There was such a stillness to him, she couldn't comprehend it. Then she did.

It was rage.

"Kagome…" He couldn't finish it, for if he did, it meant it was a threat. "You said you were… terrified." _You never told me, never told me of what you knew._

Her words came back to her and hit her hard.

_You have no idea how bad it really is… that's what I know. I know… and I'm terrified of it._

_You have no idea… absolutely no fucking idea._

She had been so scared, barely able to think about it let alone speak of it…

She remembered… she remembered enough to piece things together…

Kagome stopped, her heartbeat thundered in her ears. That was it, the slip in his façade, the break in his mask… "Itachi… I…" And she felt her heart breaking at it. _I should have told you._

The Sharingan abided, he blinked fluidly and averted his gaze quickly away from her.

She took his hands into hers. "I trust you." She reaffirmed with soft squeezes into his limp fingers. "But I don't know the difference between dreams or memories anymore…I never meant to lie…I just didn't want to proclaim something I'm not." Her voice was pleading, with wide eyes shining out like moons in the dark. "But I'm _absolutely_ terrified of the possibilities…"

But he barely regarded her words save for a flicker of his eyes.

"How much do you know?" She asked with fingers threading, knotting… "You've always known something about me and _you_ chose to withhold it." She brought up a valid point, whether or not she had had kept something from him wasn't entirely the issue here; he had known something as well. "Tell me…" She begged. "What you know."

His eyes met hers and they were heavy on her once more. "Very little."

Kagome bowed her head and took a breath. "My memories are so clouded, Itachi… they make no sense…" She couldn't tell dreams from reality. "I need to hear it from you first… before I can decipher my own…"

Moments passed, just a few, dark fluttering ones filled with heartbeats and soft breaths.

"There is something sealed in you." He informed with his usual polite apathy. "Whether it is a power or an artifact of some nature is impossible to assume at this point… however, beings are lured to it, the Kyuubi specifically."

_Buried deep, deep in your soul rages something that would tear you apart…just as any demon would. _

Kagome said nothing, just with her head bowed and eyes fixed on their hands, her short hair hung past in inky tendrils that flared out and cupped her cheeks.

"Your history is heavily intertwined with mine as well, most likely in an negative aspect than a positive…" He paused when she remained still as the stars in the sky. "Your healing is drawn from a primal source, even more basic than chakra… something that is vital, that if depleted will have adverse effects on you…"

_Your soul is breaking, it's leaving you like a hollowed out shell…_

Kagome eyes were blocked by the heavy blades of lashes that slid to her cheeks in a light kiss. "You have got most of it…" She muttered and then a bitterness settled on her lips. _I'm dying aren't I? _She smirked. "How did you guess… about our history?" She looked up with eyes too big for such a face.

"Uchiha Madara slaughtered your family?" The way he said _slaughtered _sounded as if his own tongue had held the blade to her mother's throat.

She stilled at that. "That…" She swallowed. "That was the name, yes." The name she had screamed for so many years in her dreams.

"Three years prior to _that_, the night the Kyuubi attacked, I encountered the former Uchiha Clan head." His voice was numb, with something akin to ignominy etching into his downward gaze. "He spoke of things I didn't understand…" He looked up to her, eyes reflecting back her image full and distorted, she encompassed his entire gaze. "Until now."

Kagome eyes glittered with city lights, flickering with thought. "You…were four?" It's so hard to imagine him that young, so painfully young and exposed to such things… such horrible, _horrible_ things…

"He forced out my Sharingan, Kagome." Itachi informed her, with that slight self resentment and disgrace.

Forcing out a Kekkei Genkai was… beyond dangerous. It usually resulted in death due to the chakra strain or in the best of cases a severely disabled and underdeveloped ability, like a premature infant that had been throttled at birth.

"But _why_?" She implored. Why would he do such horrible things?

Itachi leaned back. "_Why_ would he slaughter your family?" He quipped listlessly. "He's searching for something, Kagome."

_For what?_

It was so beyond them.

She rested her cheek on their tangle of hands, feeling the severity of the situation. No wonder Itachi went to the Hokage… It went beyond imagining. They needed to fully explore her memories if they wanted answers now. It was their only hope.

"He's hunting us…" He finally said and Kagome stared blankly ahead, at nothing.

"I know…" And with tears, she kissed his hands.

…

He awoke in water.

Floating on his back in a stagnant current, he opened his eyes to a looming cage.

"Ah…fuck…" He grunted when he realized where he was.

Two eyes, fresh as warm blood on a blade, stuck out behind the bars. In their normal glower, he was able to make out the dim outline of the fox. What was more disturbing however, was the fact that the fox…

Was utterly silent.

Naruto stood with a swish of water. It was lukewarm but it still sent a chill rubbing between his shoulder blades at the sight of a staring demon. "You're pissed, aren't you?" he muttered.

The fox said nothing, simply placed a gargantuan paw over the other so that his claws glistened and screeched lightly against the wrought bars.

Naruto scratched the back of his neck, his hair was damp and plastered to his skin. "I had to seal you away… you were driving me up the wall and wouldn't shut up." It was only a temporary sealing too, one that had left even more of an excruciating headache than before. The fox's roar had become dull white noise afterwards as well, which would drive any sane man…_insane._

A dull deep voice that shook his ribs, reverberated from the fox's fangs. _"Do you have any concept of why I lead you to her?"_

"Nope." Naruto chirped. "And I don't really fucking care either. I won't let you hurt Kagome-chan, just like how you hurt Sakura-chan or Sasuke."

Images of past slipups went through him, guilt settling like iron in his heart. His mind, his will, his rationale gone… just like the wind and his screams. His insides _crawling_, his skin _burning _with red hot _bloody_ chakra…

"_I won't harm the pup and you'll regret letting the Uchiha live…" _Black lips lifted over canines.

"Why do you want to talk to her so badly?" Naruto demanded.

Kyuubi's hackles prickled at his sudden abrasiveness. _"She holds something of value that not even most… demons can comprehend."_

"Huh, well I don't believe you…" Naruto grunted.

"_Just ask her then, she knows much more than you could even imagine… smart smart girl."_Kyuubi practically purred.

"You're just lying so you can get out." Naruto snarled back.

The fox chuckled. _"You have no idea of what the consequences will be, if you let this __**fester**__…" _

"And those will be?" Naruto set the fox in a gaze that matched Kyuubi's fierceness.

The fox leaned forward with a sickening smile, spread in a half moon were fangs innumerable and glistening…

"_She'll die, kit… she'll die…just like before… just like __**always**__…"_

…

Morning dabbed at her eyes like vinegar tears. Aching and stinging her, it shone through like a curtain of light ripping across a dark sea, right at the cusp of dawn.

Which it barely was, barely after dawn…

The white room, this sterile place was afire with the morning light. Everything soaked it up and let it blare out.

Kagome wiped dried tear streaks weakly off her cheeks. Her hands still tightly wound in with long powerful fingers, she slowly, very _carefully_ untangled her own from his…

She glanced up, the morning soaked up his skin, drenching him and darkening every shadow. His face was content, soft and worn, too young to look as it did. His neck leant back with hair drifting over his shoulders in thin strands; he slowly opened his eyes to her.

Immediately those dead white hands of his, gripped hers and took them back into his engulfing palms.

"Itachi…" She resisted. Now that it was day, revelations lapped and ebbed at her mindset all the more clearly. "I nearly _blinded_ you." She rasped as she reluctantly pulled away. She couldn't be trusted to be near him again, whatever… whatever was _inside_ of her couldn't be trusted…

"If you doubt yourself or my intentions…" _Then yes, it will harm us both._ "Consequences will assume themselves." He spoke so clearly for just waking up.

He'd probably been up for hours now.

She nodded slowly. There needed to be trust, so that her_ body_ didn't see him as a threat. "It seems like…" She smiled softly with her small thumb grazing his pronounced knuckles. "That we'll always harm each other… It's just our way Itachi, it's who we are… we'll never stop will we?" Her words were distant, like the wind over mountains.

Itachi just stared with heavy eyes gaping slightly. Something about her words obviously struck him and he made no attempt to respond.

She bowed and kissed his knuckles and palms that had been drenched with so much blood and had brought so much death. "Hm… _beautiful."_ She mused when she finished looking at his face.

And she left him, with hands lingering on each other like parting doves, she let his eyes soak up her back.

Kagome was about to reach for the door-

But it opened for her.

To reveal a woman.

Kagome blinked at her, stunned at the familiarity.

Cheek bones high and noble with deep-set eyes that were just as dark, the woman's hair was skewered in drooping loops that hung in a glossy ebony that matched the perfection of Geisha. Her summer yukata was plain save for the dragons stitched in like wyrms of blood spindling around Uchiwa fans.

"Who are you?" The woman peered down at her from her thin neck.

"_Who are you?"_ Kagome bit back. Then it hit her. "You…!" She gritted.

"Yes?" The woman raised a brow.

"It's… you…" Kagome fumbled for a name.

"Yes, yes… we have all figured that out now, I'm _Yui_… now who the hell are you and what are you doing in my fiancé's room?"

_Oh._

It was on.

* * *

**Author's Note:** People who are still confused about the chapter format, it goes 'flashback' and _then '_beginning of chapter' which is present. Still confused? Read the bold headings I put up on top. They usually say…_**5 months ago**_… or _**Chapter 15 present**_ to give you a little hint. Oh and I did update my profile… like twice and it didn't work! (whatthehecks?) Anyways, I'm absolutely swamped with schoolwork and not in the 'oh I have math homework tonight…fuck writing.' No I mean I have legit 5-6 hours a night of outlining and studying and reading and _reading_… And that's if I'm fast and on top of it. (of course living an hour and half away from school is just dandy for me waking up in the morning and getting home at 5 everyday _without_ extracurricular activities)Writing takes _a lot_ of time, last weekend I couldn't get anything done because I had to finish Grapes of Wrath (ugh) in two days, then get tested on Monday and then get _another test_ on Tuesday or get quizzed _twice_ in one day. There's no such thing as reviews in my school. And no, I'm not in college. (I'm hoping it will easier) I barely got in enough time just to upload this baby! _Ookay _I'm rambling but anyways I really am swamped and reviews kind of tanked, so I'm pretty down on continuing on… -shrugs- Either way it's in your guy's hands, _if and when_ I update, but times might be lengthened in between for my own sanity. _lotsdilove_ ~KK

**Next chapter**: Kagome, Sasuke and Neji are called away on their first mission, creepy masks and itchy-infected tattoos ensue… but don't forget the angst, as Neji witnesses when Uchiha Sasuke and Higurashi Kagome are _alone _in the wilderness. Back at home, where Kagome failed to deal with Yui, Itachi fills in the blanks, subsequently turning the tables in Kagome's favor, leaving Yui ousted by the Clan and Kagome sought after, Yui storms off, but not without typical Shisui calling her the C-word… But of course he has a very _very_ good reason, after all, this is Shisui we're talking about and you don't say such vulgar things about Uchiha Itachi and Higurashi Kagome without being harassed. Silly Yui, tricks are for kids;)

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

45+ = _Wednesday,_ **September 22**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **October 6**(One month)

20+= _Wednesday_, **November 3**(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **December 1 **(Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Saturday, September, 11**_


	15. You've Got The Eyes, I've Got The Heart

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

_**Border, Tsuchi no Kuni**_

_**5 months ago…**_

"You're really not going to tell me your name, yeah?"

Kagome slunk against rimed stone of yet another cave they had to take shelter in, it _burned_. "It's better this way, Deidara."

The blonde bomber fiddled irritably with a measly fire, but it was quickly reduced to gasping embers by an icy draft. Deidara's face contorted into a blooming red and chapped version before kicking their only source of heat in a fit of frustration.

Darkness filled in after that, the sunset was grey and blue, and there was no sun to behold, especially during this thick of a blizzard.

"Well it doesn't matter anyways, we're going to die now, yeah." Deidara's voice was echoingly bitter and his eyes were gleaming silver across from her. _Violent._

"Are you going to kill me?" she finally asked and her voice rang clear across the howling winter winds.

There was a long moment where Kagome braced herself for it…

Until suddenly, a breath was released from Deidara's lips and it hung in an frosty cloudlet.

"…no."

"Why?" Kagome sat up, the ruffle of snow and her breathy response was enough for grumbling Deidara to sit back entirely.

Deidara cursed under his breath, "isn't it obvious?"

Kagome shook her head. "I don't understand…" _Please don't say it, please don't say it…_

A crooked gleam cracked over dried blood and Deidara's lips. "I care for you, yeah and I think you're the first person who feels the same way back. I can't kill you as much as you can't kill me…" A chuckle broke out and echoed within their little grotto. "You're kind of like the little sister I never had… or once had, but…yeah." His voice died down at that last bit.

"Deidara I—"

"Can't? I know, but I won't compromise your mission… hell I'll even help you, yeah." Deidara's eyes blinked and they were as blue as a fresh winter sky.

And that's when Kagome _saw_ him.

For the first time she realized how truly alone he was, chasing away the few people that cared for him because he knew that one day he might kill them. Deidara knew how dangerous he was, how trapped within him was not a heart, but rather something else…

Something that only ever loved and was captivated by the fleeting, the transitory, the _moment_…

That was the only way Deidara could love. He could only love another for a moment, just _one _moment, and only in their greatest transformation.

Which was death for most.

But for some, for the few, like _her, _whose moment was longer, not just _one…_

'_You have something… fading in you, yeah.' _He had once said to her.

Who were right at the cusp—

'_It's fleeting, it's in your eyes… it won't last very much longer.' _Right when they first met.

—of losing their innocence.

Well, to Deidara that was far more glorious than death.

"So what's our mission, yeah?"

And he loved her, and would so, until that _moment_ was gone.

Kagome never felt more terrified in her life.

* * *

**_-Chapter Fifteen-_**

You've got eyes, I've got the heart

* * *

_-try to understand, listen to the thrumming, beating._

_intricacies in me, I want to be your world._

_just know-_

_that my heart is a good start._

_**Konoha Hospital, Hi no Kuni**_

_**Present…**_

"_Who are you?" The woman peered down at her from her thin neck. _

"_Who are you?" Kagome bit back. Then it hit her. "You…!" She gritted._

"_Yes?" The woman raised a brow. _

"_It's… you…" Kagome fumbled for a name._

"_Yes, yes… we have all figured that out now, I'm Yui… now who the hell are you and what are you doing in my fiancé's room?" _

_Oh._

_It was on._

…

Kagome stared up and immediately something akin to hot sticky annoyance blossomed within her so she crossed her arms and defiantly did not let the Uchiha pass. "Higurashi Kagome, ANBU Captain."

"Uchiha Yui… and never heard of you… now move aside, pipsqueak." Yui sidestepped and Kagome immediately mimicked her actions, effectively blocking her. Yui's dark grey eyes narrowed down at the girl. Why in Kami's name would some random little girl be here to visit Itachi of all people?

Then the light-bulb turned on.

"_You!" _Yui hissed. This was her! In the flesh! The little thorn in her side, the one that _everyone_ (her mother) in the Clan was hassling her about. The ANBU bitch!

"Me?" Kagome asked demurely. By the looks of it, she could easily throttle this woman by now or do the more discreet puncture to the lung? Drowning in your own blood was much more poetic.

"You're the one who has been sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong." Yui went nose to nose with the little shrimp. For a second there, she had thought this pipsqueak had been a _boy._

Kagome leveled her with a dark look, her eyes murky and shadowed at the moment, graying over with clouds before the storm. _"Excuse me?"_

"You heard me. I said…" Yui trailed as her brow drew together in a sudden revelation. "Wait. How old are you?" She asked in an almost polite tone.

Kagome stiffened. "Twelve." She muttered darkly.

Yui sat up straight and then a coy smile splayed on her lips. She giggled to herself. "Oh… now that's cute." She patted the girl on the head. "Move along, sweetie, this is for grownups." And she slipped past in a matter of seconds.

"I'll show you_ cute_…" Kagome rounded on her heel and was about to enter the wolf's den when a delicate yet firm hold caught her shoulder—

"Ah, Kagome-chan… so nice to see you visiting." Chimed an eerily familiar voice.

Uchiha Mikoto smiled, eyes closed and with full lips she was a pleasant sight.

"I was just—" _Leaving. But not before I remove a future dead body from the room._

"Stay, stay… I brought breakfast." Mikoto pushed Kagome along until she was at the corner of Itachi's bedside and watching as Yui flicked a very asleep Sasuke on the temple.

"Oi, Gaki. Wake up." Yui flicked him once more earning a murderous gaze from her provoked cousin.

Sasuke crossed his arms even harder and glared viciously at the girl. "What..." He started rougly. "—do_ you_ want?" His voice was stone.

Yui pinched his cheek. "Just for you to acknowledge my presence for once in your life," Yui snubbed and headed over to Itachi now that Sasuke was awake.

Yui plopped herself on the edge of the bed and looked up to the utterly blank slate that was her fiancé's face. "I'm so glad you're alive!" She exclaimed as she threw herself over Itachi, who remained still as a statue.

Mikoto awkwardly patted Yui on the shoulder as she passed by. "Now Yui-chan, you mustn't further his injuries."

Yui lifted herself grudgingly off of him. "But he came back unharmed," she quipped as she fixed her hair, preening the sleek black locks that remained utterly straight.

Kagome unconsciously let her fingertips stray to her own short stubborn bangs.

Mikoto nodded as she handed Sasuke the basket of food, who was already digging. "Hai…" She turned back around to her stoic elder son. "They only told us this morning what had had happened."

Yui nodded. "They came to the door with a bunch of ANBU and said you collapsed 'the evening prior' and were withheld overnight."

"You didn't come by at all yesterday, Itachi," Mikoto scolded sternly with a slap to the wrist.

Yui nodded again. "The next time you get ambushed, Itachi-kun, you should at least pay your mother a visit before she pulls out her own hair in worry."

"Gomen nasai, Okaa-san, but I was preoccupied yesterday," Itachi responded reverently, painfully distant.

Kagome saw nothing, his eyes grayed out; shallow, no longer the dark depths that she always delved and mulled over.

They reminded her of stone.

Yui fixed him with a look. "With what?" She jerked a thumb where Kagome was still standing. "Her?"

Kagome eyes flattened like a cat eyeing an annoying dog.

Itachi said nothing.

"So why did you collapse randomly if you didn't have any injuries?" Yui pried as she examined her cuticles.

"He was poisoned." Sasuke responded immediately with hands weighing bento boxes, comparing.

"He was?" Kagome sputtered out, her voice carrying high.

Sasuke sent her a look that made her bite her tongue.

She looked away, she was acting ridiculous. She couldn't let this Yui get the best of her temper, emotions were running high after last night and she couldn't help but want to protect such a tender subject and the person in the center of it all.

"You were?" Yui looked up suddenly and examined her younger cousin, her eyes checking his placid façade for any cracks of deceit.

Itachi nodded softly. "There was a high toxicity of snake poison on a senbon that punctured my lung. Thankfully, it was treated swiftly with an antidote despite it reaching my bloodstream…"

Kagome blinked, the two brothers could lie (and collaborate) almost too easily.

"Huh." Yui leaned back and then turned to Sasuke who was busying himself with eating his rice ball. "_Gaki_, toss me a bento," she snapped.

It was chucked right at her face.

Yui caught it anyways and flipped it open in one fluid motion. "Itachi-kun…" She handed him a rice ball, he waved it politely away. "You should have told people about Higurashi-kun's age… this way I wouldn't have gotten so beside myself." She took a bite.

Kagome crossed her arms and flickered silently over to Sasuke who immediately handed her a rice ball. She took it greedily, she was _starving_… Which was nice, in _I'm-a-normal-human-being_ kind of way.

"I wasn't aware that the situation called for such." Itachi's eyes slid over to Kagome stealing Sasuke's sliced tomatoes…

"Oh but it does, for everyone was most definitely sure that you had found another to replace me." Yui picked at her sticky rice.

Kagome snorted from behind and Sasuke smirked as he flicked a pickle right at the thief of his tomatoes. She dodged with a glare and the pickle now stuck to a wall.

"Jumping to conclusions will only infuriate you more, Yui-kun," Itachi replied fluidly, gaze still preoccupied with Kagome and Sasuke…

Yui stilled but quickly regained her composure. "Right, I'll keep that in mind… of course it does warm my heart to know you finally found a little friend." She simpered and turned around to analyze Kagome. "To take the poor little wretch under your wing is _so_ admirable of you." She crooned.

"I have always found it the other way around, Yui-kun." Itachi's eyes laid heavily on his brother and Kagome, who was now flipping rice grains in quick torrents of Wind chakra.

"What?" She clipped.

But all thoughts were dashed when a certain Uchiha busted in. "_Itachi!" _Hollered Shisui, who was wearing normal civilian wear instead of usual ANBU tirade. He skidded to a stop in front of his cousin's bed. "Yui and your mom are…" His eyes landed on a glowering Yui. "—already here." He finished with a crooked smile.

"Hello there, _Shisui_." There was venom in Yui's voice.

"Why hello there, Ryuunosuke-_chan_," Shisui retorted just as sickeningly sweet.

Yui immediately deflated into a bitter cesspool. Of course he had to call her by her _full_ name. "It's _Yui._ _Baka_." She hissed.

"Ah,_ but_ that's not what your father says…" Shisui chimed smugly. "Always wanted a boy he did…" He muttered as if it were a tragedy that _Yui _was a girl. "Wonder if that runs in your line, Ryuunosuke-chan? Will we see our great clan to ruin because you will only produce girls?"

Mikoto whipped around to her nephew. "Shisui, that's enough," she scolded.

Yui raised up a hand. "Its fine, the fool just doesn't understand that it is the male who determines the sex of the child, not the female."

"Oh thank the gods then." Shisui swiped his brow. "I was worried the future of our clan laid in your hands…or should I say—"

"Shisui…" Mikoto warned.

Yui sighed. "Poor Shisui-_chan_, still doesn't know the basics of the birds and bees even though he whores around… or maybe you just haven't figured out which hole is the right-"

"_Yui!" _Mikoto admonished.

"—_gomen ne_, oba-san," she muttered quickly.

"Yeah we have virgins in the room." Shisui motioned over to Kagome and Sasuke who were having a chopstick duel.

Yui smirked. "Oh right I forgot…"

"That goes for you too," Shisui drawled with a pointed stare.

Yui's face bloomed red. "I wouldn't be so sure about your little pipsqueak though…"

"Oh, stuff it," Shisui bellowed. "She's a kid for Kami's sake."

Yui sniffed. "Well, she's definitely not innocent… she's in ANBU after all."

Shisui quieted at that, he knew what ANBU women were capable of and trained to do. "Ugh…" He just wrinkled his nose at Yui, she was as stuck-up and immature as Uchiha women came and she bugged the shit out of him. "Oh right, I almost forgot, Chibs!" he called at the little preoccupied prodigy.

Kagome ceased her assault with chopsticks on Sasuke's nose. "What?" she asked annoyed, she didn't like this whole situation and her and Sasuke were distracting themselves with much more entertaining activities.

"Grab Gaki and let's go." Shisui motioned to the door.

Kagome and Sasuke exchanged a look. "Why?" She asked.

"Why else? You little shits got your first mission."

…

They flickered past and through the village like ghosts. They seemingly moved through walls they ran so quickly.

With Shisui outmatching them impatiently, he stopped suddenly, on a roof and the world came to a halt around them and back to life. "Kami, you're getting rusty Chibs…"

Kagome landed in a crouch, her mouth slightly agape in a light pant. "You are… _ridiculously_ fast… Shisui."

"Che, you've seen nothing. I can get from here to Suna in less than three hours." Shisui bragged when Sasuke finally flickered beside Kagome, shadowing her with a warning look over to elder cousin.

"Alright now, both of you need to listen…" Shisui started seriously with arms crossing. "The Hokage wants you out of the village when the Clans meet."

"The Clans are meeting?" Kagome stood weakly, her hand gripping Sasuke's haori sleeve for support.

Shisui nodded. "Every so often they call a meeting but it will more than likely come up that an Uchiha and a Hyuuga are on the same team…"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted at the mere mention of Neji.

"Things will get political and probably nasty, Kami knows my Clan is just hearing of it. Along with you Chibs… your activity with Itachi is going to remain classified and under investigation but that doesn't mean there won't be questions and the Hokage is trying to placate the situation so that Shikaku knows what to say when bombarded."

Kagome nodded, her eyes were heavy under her bangs. "My healing is classified?"

Shisui shrugged the sun was his spiky halo. "I guess… that's what the Hokage mandated. You're not off the hook yet though Chibs, you're still the Captain of these misfits, meaning you're going to get attention drawn to yourself."

"I'll deal with the Clans." Kagome nodded, looking up to Sasuke with those words. "Alright, let's go."

And with that said, the world became a blur once more.

…

He really shouldn't have been surprised to see Hyuuga already there, pale faced and silhouetted by incandescent dawn-light which immediately spurred the usual irritating itch that blossomed in his chest whenever the Hyuuga was within his presence.

Kagome always outdoing his steps, strode forward and greeted him firmly with a small hand on his sleeved arm, Neji nodded back at her words.

She was small, their junior by three years, four for Neji and yet she was their leader, one that Sasuke had actually no qualms with. Not yet. Not now. There was a slow ache between them and it would heal, so long as she kept mindful of her actions regarding him and his brother.

Kagome turned to the Hokage. "This is rather sudden." She mused and Tsunade barely flinched. "Their skill sets have hardly been altered to counter their weaknesses…"

She was bluntly referring to the rather sore subject of ANBU testing; which included heavy observation of the selected candidate for years, leading to the weaknesses of said candidates being documented and being the core of the testing.

Sasuke remembered, a little too well, his Sharingan was susceptible to Genjutsu and had become his ultimate weakness. Kagome had proved this when he had fallen like stone into water with her Genjutsu during his examinations.

"Kakashi said they would postpone my missions until I overcame my_ limitations_…" He couldn't say weakness.

Tsunade snorted. "He was only trying to scare you, if you prove completely useless than yes, you will be removed from the immediate roster and may even be removed from ranks." Tsunade thrummed her lacquered nails on wood. "Until then, just don't get yourself killed and work on your flaws in the meantime."

Neji turned to him. "It is advisable that we train separately from our former teammates for now on."

Sasuke's eyes slid down from Neji's blank face and to Kagome. She didn't look back, only the crescent of a cheek visible with eyelashes flushed out and heavy. "Choose as you like, Hyuuga but I have yet to see the value of my team expire."

Kagome looked up with a smirk. "Hn, you should repeat that to _them_." It was a rare thing for Uchiha Sasuke to acknowledge those closest to him.

Sasuke poked her forehead with a bemused expression. "Hn."

She glowered and rubbed her brow. He did not just do _that._

"I want you out of the village within the hour. I don't want you having any contact with your respective Clans or anyone else for that matter. You're in ANBU, as far as anyone else is concerned this mission outranks them and any breach of security, like leaks of information will result in _heavy_ consequences." Tsunade voice was thunder blaring out against the raindrops. The Godaime sent a look over to a certain wayward ANBU Captain in the back, who was leaning on the wall as he bit his nails. "Shisui."

"Huh?" He looked up with indolent dark grey eyes staring out from beneath spiky bangs. "Oh right." And he disappeared out the door.

"Shisui will retrieve your new masks and uniforms…" Tsunade informed them with hard eyes. "You will then receive your marks and be given the remaining hour to retrieve supplies." Her hand jutted out, in its grasp was a darkly bound scroll, unlabeled and sealed.

Kagome took it without missing a beat and it disappeared from sight after that.

"How are we to avoid our Clans if we are to retrieve supplies from our home?" Neji asked thinly.

"You're in ANBU, sneak in and get out," Tsunade snapped. "But before we do that, you need to know that before you two receive your marks that this is no mere tattoo on your shoulder. It integrates itself into your chakra signature forever, marking you as ANBU. Once _marked _you will be able to identify any ANBU of Leaf, just as they will be able to identify _you_." Tsunade's eyes wandered over to Shisui entering with black bundles in hand. "Is that clear?"

Both boys nodded with Kagome in between remaining still and quiet.

Shisui approached and handed his younger cousin one bundle and the Hyuuga the other.

Sasuke tentatively pulled on the string and the cloth parted to reveal a noh mask laying on top of light ANBU vestments. It was plain, with slits for eyes and two coils on the temples that shined like fresh blood on snow. The coils edged off into crimson scales that practically dripped off the slightly oblong porcelain.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you will be known as _Hebi_." Tsunade spoke solemnly.

Sasuke's gaze flicked over to Neji who was also studying his own mask. It was much more distinct, rounder and not as elongated in shape, with its eyes as vacant holes, it took on the face of a bird. With thin jade stripes slicing across the cheeks and brow and a long sharp beak, it was evidently an elegant crane.

"Hyuuga Neji, you will be known as _Tsuru_."

Shisui threw up his arms. "Don't look at me, I didn't choose them." In fact nobody ever _chose_ the masks, they just _appeared_, sometimes you recognized the _face_ of a recently departed ANBU on a new recruit and sometimes they wore a completely new face, a fresh identity to add to the ranks.

Shisui couldn't repress the shivers when he saw Sasuke's.

The prior owner had been a great Sannin after all…

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Alright then, Shisui take them to get marked and out of the village within the hour," she waved them off. "You're dismissed."

Shisui motioned for them to follow. "C'mon."

Kagome stopped them though. "I'll meet you two at the eastern wall."

Neji nodded, which looked more like a bow.

Sasuke said nothing. The eyes of the snake were still watching.

…

The morning was hot against their backs and despite even Neji's rigid self control, he couldn't help but do the occasional scratch to his left shoulder.

Sasuke on the other hand, had no such reservations, he was discreetly scratching himself _bloody._

The mark, the tattoo or whatever the hell it was, was driving him absolutely_ insane_. With its irritation blossoming into a searing burn when he rubbed the wrong way and a prickling itch when he did _not_...

Well, let's just say it didn't put him in the best of moods.

Itachi had never shown any discomfort when he first got his, it only was distorted a little but eventually seeped right into the skin seamlessly. He remembered gazing at it and Itachi letting him touch the slightly raised and blackened skin. He had been jealous even then and had longed for the same mark to show he was one of the _elite._

Now, he was pretty sure he was just allergic to it.

Of course he was. That _would_ happen to him.

Neji shouldered his pale drawstring knapsack. "How well do you know Higurashi-san?"

Sasuke was leaning against a post, with arms cross and eyes castoff. Trees lined over the walls of the village, green and almost feathery with how the wind carried. _"Very."_

Neji eyed the seamless straight sheath on Sasuke's back. "Your weapon…"

Sasuke's eyes flicked over to him. "It's a chokutō," he replied deeply.

"Single edged?"

"Double," Sasuke corrected. "Kagome gave it to me." The last part was low in his breath.

"How generous." If there was a smugness to Neji's voice, it wasn't helping Sasuke's mood.

"Hn." He looked off into the distance once more, eyes aloft over the village and scanning for her. The Hyuuga was prying and like everything the Hyuuga did, it was annoying. He was suddenly wishing that Naruto had applied and was backed by Kagome's recommendation.

Images flashed. Kagome, Naruto and him…

It would have been annoying, probably more than that but it would have been worth it…

But that wasn't Naruto.

ANBU weren't meant to be leaders. They were killers, the shadowed shinobi who took orders from the Hokage directly. That's how it always was. Him, preferring the fringes of society, the shadows of the admired and Naruto striving for the center, shining like the sun and drawing everyone in.

"She's late." Neji's pallid face and insipid eyes reminded Sasuke of a corpse.

No, she wasn't late. They just happened to get here extremely early. Because Kami forbid Neji was to be alone with her.

A blur of black blemished the sunlight when Kagome came to a roaring stop with Wind chakra in her wake and her mouth panting she narrowed her eyes at seemingly nothing. "Gomen…I just…" She panted. Kami she was out of shape. "Yoshino _had_ to pack me a lunch." She held up a wrapped bento box. She was lucky to get out of there alive…

That troublesome woman had just given her the scolding of a lifetime back there. Shikaku had even had to evacuate the premises, Yoshino had grown so irate.

Neji raised a brow, and then he was quickly reminded of her adoption history.

"Kagome," Sasuke rolled her name off his tongue steadily.

She looked up with anomalous eyes.

"How did you encounter Nara?"

_Oh. _Right they weren't supposed to talk to their clans, well Sasuke and Neji weren't. _Political biases and all._ It wasn't specifically her and even though most of her belongings were at her apartment…"I needed to pick up this…" And dripping from her fingertips were dark beads laced around her neck, accented with what appeared to be fangs.

"What is that?" Sasuke's voice cut.

Kagome shrugged. "A necklace I've always had." She tucked it back into her collar. "I bring it on every mission."

"When will we discuss our assignment?" Neji queried fluidly.

"Now," Kagome said simply as the scroll materialized in her palm. "It's never appropriate to discuss a mission in the Hokage's office." She informed them of etiquette as she set the scroll on the ground, undid the wax seal with a _'snap'_ and unrolled it. It was blank. "Only ones marked as ANBU will be able to read the writing, but not only that, you have to undo Genjutsu overlaying it." Kagome formed a simple hand seal.

Sasuke eyes immediately flared to life with his Kekkei Genkai and copied the Jutsu. Neji unfortunately, was not so lucky.

Sasuke smirked.

Kagome looked over to Neji."Form the hand seal, it's more of a lopsided Ram seal with your ring and pinky finger outstretched straight with a more concentrated dose of chakra… there now, release..." She instructed articulately.

Neji's hands fell into the rhythm of her words easily. "Kai." And the scroll instantly faded to a scrawled breakdown of their current mission.

"It only needs to be done once and can only be done if you have the mark of ANBU." Kagome informed them. "Eventually no hand seal will be needed and you will be able to release it by simply brushing your chakra against the Genjutsu barrier."

"Is it possible to place another Genjutsu overlaying the primary so that it does not appear blank?" Neji's opalescent eyes were studying the scroll diligently with his fingers cupping his chin.

Kagome nodded. "Many do this, however you must be proficient in Genjutsu rather than merely capable to overlap one illusion over the other and once more if you are to identify it."

Neji eyes remained trained on the scroll, taking it all in.

"That was very observant, Hyuuga." Kagome commended.

Neji nodded pleasantly. "Arigato,_ Taicho_."

Sasuke grunted, arms crossing."Hn."

Kagome crouched before the splayed scroll and skimmed a finger along its hiragana. "Now, as you can see here, we are to rendezvous with two squads on the border of Kawa no Kuni. Apparently there has been some epidemic hitting the smaller villages and the country's Daimyo is requesting medical aid. It's a short mission and really just pulled up so that we're far away when the Clans meet but we must treat it with no less caution than any other. We will be crossing borders and checkpoints that you may not be familiar with and we will not be taking any roads or paths…" She warned.

Sasuke garnered her with a heavy look. "Two squadrons are already at the site?"

She nodded with eyes scanning. "Disposal/Recovery and Medical Dispatch. Like I said, this mission is relatively unnecessary…"

"Hn." Sasuke already felt irritated prior, this was not helping matters.

"What is our objective?" Neji's pale eyes were skimming the script, memorizing it.

"Unknown, but the squadrons are requesting aid and it is our duty to supply it in any that we can." With those words, the scroll lit up in flames and disappeared into the smoke. "You will only ever see your mission scroll once, after that, it will self-destruct within a matter of minutes." She could roll her eyes at the dramatics.

But Sasuke was watching her seriously, his gaze never faltering and studying her.

She was strict, regal and detached. No longer the scared little girl huddled in the hallway holding his hand, but a Captain, a prodigy who defied odds by her mere age. "Both of you put on your masks." She ordered tersely. "You are _never_ to remove them without my strict permission. Only I have the authority to do so and you will only respond by your given codenames."

Sasuke reached into his pack, it was a slim standard ANBU grade that melded into his uniform seamlessly, and revealed his elongated mask. Its scarlet swirls split into scales on the edges of the porcelain temples.

It fit.

Almost too perfectly.

Neji adjusted his rounded crane mask a bit stiffly until it too completely melded to the Hyuuga's face.

Kagome appraised them, black ANBU attire encrusted with gray vestments and armguards. Save for Sasuke's weapon and Neji's knapsack, everything else was concealed, hidden from the eye. Sasuke's hair spiked out characteristically from behind his chilling mask while the Hyuuga's flowed down with opalescent eyes glistening out. "Hm, you guys look good," she mused with a smirk.

Kagome reached back and pulled out her cloak, it was thin but durable, absconded from the standard black or rare canvas color, it was pure white. She flung it over and around herself in a elegant _swish_ as she propped the cowl up so that her face became shadowed. A mask materialized within her grasp simultaneously as she placed it on her face.

It was smiling.

Right back at him with angled slits for eyes, deep cobalt swirls for whiskers and elongated ears poking out from her hood…

Sasuke remembered.

They had called her… "Yamaneko is my moniker." She informed them icily. "I will respond to no other name while I wear this mask. Do you understand?" Her voice was slightly muffled.

"Hai." Neji practically bowed.

Sasuke said nothing, he didn't need to, he would follow her into the depths of hell should she ask.

She just had no idea yet.

…

Morning was climbing, like fresh milk curdling, the light was yellowing and again the hospital room was eliciting a dull yellow.

His mother was sitting off to side, reading a magazine with the window, her backlight. She was much too accustomed to hospitals even when her children were within them.

Yui was pushing around his latest tray of hospital food, with many failed attempts to feed him. Already she had resigned herself to stabbing bean paste until it was practically liquefied. "There's going to be Clan meeting before the Patriarchs meet."

Itachi nodded. "Most likely to discuss who will be allowed audience." It was always a fierce fight to who would be allowed to 'hear it first' and be able to tell everyone else. _Pitiful._

Yui shrugged with eyes still downward. "I heard you were the one who put together Sasuke-chan's team," she murmured.

"Hai… that is correct."

Her eyes whipped up, muddled grey and dense as stone. "Why? You know what is being said about that girl and on top of that, you put a Hyuuga with them? That's never happened in our history, _ever_."

"Others were meddling in my affairs, Yui-kun. I merely countered them," Itachi replied fluidly, his hands were laced with one another, still warm and tangled from before…

"What did they do?" Yui pried in a hushed whisper.

"It is none of your concern, simply understand that our Clan has never been completely absolved of Hatake Kakashi's interest."

"That sneaky bastard! First he magically gets Obito-kun's Sharingan, who is coincidentally dead and was apparently _all too willing_, Kami rest his soul. But _then _goes off and becomes Sasuke-chan's sensei to piss us off even more and now you're telling me he is messing around with ANBU affairs. You're a Captain, you should nip this in the bud."

"Hai, but Kakashi-san was a Captain long before Itachi." Mikoto reminded with eyes still scanning her magazine.

"Hmph, that's right…" Yui tapped her lip. "Weren't you two on the same team or something?"

"Aa…" Itachi responded darkly.

"Huh, you must of done something to him Itachi-kun." Crooned Yui. "Because he sure is messing with you even more now that Sasuke-chan is in ANBU."

Mikoto flipped a page. "What is he doing, Itachi?" Her voice rang clear and it was apparent she wasn't prying for her own personal interest.

"Kakashi-san nullified Higurashi-san's probation."

"Hm, weren't you planning on doing that eventually?" Mikoto flipped another page.

"It wasn't his decision to make." Yui defended politely.

"Just as it wasn't my son's." Mikoto looked up sternly.

"The implications are what are concerning… Okaa-san." Itachi's eyes met his mothers, his more tentative and questioning.

Yui nodded fiercely. "Hai, there is no doubt that Kakashi is rooting himself a presence just as he did when Sasuke-chan became a Genin." The Copy Ninja had always been threatened by their Clan, always had a bone to pick with them after he received the Sharingan. Especially after he had teamed up with Itachi, which resulted in Kakashi retiring from ANBU shortly after. "What were Higurashi-kun's charges for warranting a full suspension from the roster and a probation period?"

"Suicidal attempt that put her fellow teammates at risk." Mikoto sufficed as she ripped out a recipe page and tucked it in her purse. "I did a background check."

"Hm." Itachi's eyes pooled with amusement.

Yui shot a look over to her future mother-in-law. "You're a sly one, Oba-san."

"It's not that hard when your husband is the head of the Police force." Mikoto closed her magazine. "Now, tell me Itachi, why is Kakashi bothering you so much? He must have done something else to warrant your actions." She was inferring to the controversial move of placing a Hyuuga with an Uchiha. It was overcompensation to have more than one Doujutsu per unit.

"Empty threats, that is all…" It rolled off the tongue before one could even finish a thought.

"He threatened you?" Mikoto's cheery voice turned cold.

"Aa," Itachi replied lightly.

The door swung open and Shisui strode in. "Sai's being released by the way." He plopped himself at the foot of the hospital bed and flicked Itachi's feet from under the coverlets. "Kind of weird how _you're_ still here when there's nothing wrong with you."

"He was poisoned," Yui snubbed. "He needs rest before the meetings tonight. Itachi-kun has to be at both."

"Riiight…" Shisui turned to his… _male_ cousin. "Speaking of that, I did as you said and the eagle is safely out of the nest." Shisui winked as he did flapping motions with his hands.

"Good." Itachi sat back slowly.

"What do you mean?" Yui narrowed her angled eyes.

"Nothing."

"Shisui." Mikoto looked up from her magazine. "Where is my son?"

"Why he's right here, Ba-chan. You're eyesight must be getting worse because he's been here the whole time, silent as a corpse but still here." He laughed and scratched his neck nervously.

"Dumbass…" Yui muttered.

"Itachi?" Mikoto switched for answers.

"Like he's going to be more help…" Shisui rolled his eyes. "He's gone, Ba-chan. Gaki has left the building, as in bye-bye, sayounara…"

"Where?" Mikoto inquired lightly.

"First mission…" Shisui fumbled for answers. "Probably that plague in Tori… or was it Kusa?"

"Kawa no Kuni." Itachi supplemented sinuously.

"Plague?" Mikoto's voice jumped up a few decibels.

Shisui shrugged. "It's fine…" He waved it off. "If he gets sick, Chibi can heal him."

"How on earth would she be able to heal something that's killed hundreds already?" Yui knew everything about everyone, it was no surprised this little inkling of news had reached her ear.

"Duh, how else did smartass over here survive his _own _ambush?" When everyone either died or was seriously injured.

"Shisui." Itachi's order was a blade on ice.

Shisui flinched. He just didn't know when to shut his mouth.

"What are on earth are you talking about?" Mikoto narrowed her eyes on her son. "Itachi?"

Shisui buried his face into his hands. "Oh fuck."

…

When noon toppled over, with the sun at its zenith, Kagome didn't slow or stop. Even though it was very much apparent it was taking its toll on her.

She was at the head of their trivet, gliding over braches soundlessly, meekly leading them on; fluttering about, the dove leading the stark ravens, both of the dark ones having their eyes _open_.

Sasuke had been taught at an early age that the only way to increase length of Sharingan usage was to actually_ use_ it. Continually.

Back then, a few hours wore down on his chakra reserves and made his eyes sore. Now he could go indefinitely with little to no effect on his chakra. And with every activation, his Kekkei Genkai would grow stronger.

Or at least that was what his father had told him.

The world always _looked_ different with his Sharingan. Details sharpened, the veins of leaves thrummed even as he flew past, the fibers of feathers tore and ruffled just as they were strewn and zipped together once more when the bird preened itself. He reveled on how the deep hearts of shadows hid little and how the sun's core blinded nothing. But these were just _glimpses._

_One can become lost within the intricacies of the world, otouto. _

Itachi had once told him, when he had been staring at a dead dragon fly for the better half of the hour.

_Simply be aware of what you are captivated by, indulge or deny it but never repress it._

But her face was masked and he only barely glimpsed at her once with his _eyes._

She had been afraid back then and he hadn't been quite _aware_.

Now, after whatever had transpired between his brother and her, had eradicated it. He was doubtful if her fear actually held validity in the first place, but not as much as he felt the suspicion poking at his ribs and prodding him to look into it more.

But he was satisfied for now.

Because they were away from the village and he was allowed to look on her with his _true_ eyes. Just another mask he was able to strip away.

But until she shed her physical porcelain one, he wouldn't be able to look at her yet.

So he contented himself with her back. Blaring white over nimble shoulders and the droop of a cowl was all he saw. Even with just this to surmise from, he was able to perceive Kagome as taking _this_ speed over _this_ distance hard.

You were never supposed to hear ANBU breathing.

Let alone panting.

So Sasuke watched her steadily, his vermillion stare etching itself into her pristine white cloak, so much so that one would be sure he would stain it red.

After all, surveillance wasn't his job. No, the Byakugan covered everything for kilometers around and they were still within their borders, everything was safe. Even so, Sasuke kept his senses stretched and his Kekkei Genkai active.

Neji's eyes were flittering about, scanning past the tree boughs and the nest of tangled leaves.

The Byakugan revealed the bare necessities, the skeletal frames of deer, the heartbeats of birds, the chakra networks of his teammates. Color was a luxury as was shadowing and lighting. The world was clear as ice and pulsating around him in every direction.

The girl, the one he would call Captain from here on out was struggling. He glimpsed how her heart thudded within her ribs as if it were a bird in a cage, how her muscles quivered with every leap and how her bones were disturbingly thinner at a glance. She was but a small skeleton ahead of him, shivering as if she might have been cold. But it was just exhaustion or something akin to that.

Whatever it was, Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan was blaring out beneath the slits of his mask and was trained in on her back.

Whether the Uchiha knew it or not, he was actually staring at her heart.

It was when Kagome's chakra wavered causing the soles of her feet to slip, did Sasuke catch her by the forearm harshly. "Stop…" He murmured just to her. It was no command. _Please._

Her hands were as white as her cloak.

Behind her mask were wavering eyes, ones that swayed and paled.

She ripped herself out of his grip, too easily, too quietly. Only because he was afraid he might break her, might snap her wings or tear her feathers. Sasuke's hands were empty in the dark forest air.

"I'm fine." Her voice was muffled by the mask. That smiling cat hid her blanched face and sunken in eyes.

"You're exhausted." Sasuke reprimanded when the Neji approached them.

Kagome tensed visibly, even underneath her cloak.

Mask against mask, the snake and the cat, the viper and the lynx. Both hissing.

Neji's eyes pierced right through her, literally. Her muscles were suffering, the blood flow to them was rapid and her heart rate was beyond erratic. "We are ahead of schedule; our arrival isn't expected until daybreak. A rest would be advisable before proceeding to more permanent arrangements." His voice was thin, but sung thickly of logic.

"It is also practice to exceed expectations, _Tsuru._ We will arrive tonight and be done by dawn." She shrank to her knees, with bone white hands skimming the bark, she was a puddle of ivory.

Neji nodded. "Though… isn't it our objective to garner time while our clans meet?"

Sasuke blinked. For once, the Hyuuga was right.

Kagome's nails dug into the damp bark. "We will rest at the next checkpoint and then leave for Kawa a few hours prior to first light." She conceded quietly, with fingertips unconsciously scratching at the split wood.

…

Seventh tatami mat to the far right. Or was it the eighth?

It didn't matter, for Uchiha Yui discovered the seventh slightly miffed and a flicker of light beneath. Striding over, with her dark grey kimono dragging behind her, she flipped it off with a _slap_ and ducked down into the dank little room where her clan was meeting for the _second_ time.

Candles were lit, pairing off and dripping from sconces at an altar where that ridiculously old tablet which no one could read was displayed.

Yui moved with a ruffle of silk, her kimono was light but altogether formal and presentable when she met with the other clans' patriarchs in a few short hours. She wanted to epitomize what a matriarch of an ancient clan _should _look like. Not some meek housewife that Mikoto always portrayed. In her opinion, she was the closest thing they got to nobility around here.

So with powdered cheeks, rouged lips and the usual dragons on silk, (it should be her crest by now) she strode up to her uncle, fiancé, cousins, elders and…_Shisui._

This was the selected group for the upcoming meeting, the one that was declared this evening when every Uchiha of age and importance met. These people were the core of not only their entire clan but the entire Konoha Military Police Force.

The Elders grumbled as usual, they wouldn't be going but that didn't mean they didn't have something to say. Yashiro stood with them, nodding and guaranteeing that Fugaku would voice their concerns properly with Inabi snapping back and quarreling about how 'personal aspirations shouldn't be clouding our primary concerns.'

Shisui rolled his eyes, towering over all of them while Itachi remained silent, with stone eyes preoccupied and full of thought. As usual, he looked just as miserable as before.

Fugaku raised a hand to stem the bickering. "All matters will be addressed at the meeting, no voice will go unheard."

The Elders placated and Yashiro nodded. Inabi glared out from his curtain of mud colored hair.

"The main point is the Hyuuga, not the foolish fantasy of paranoia and insecurity," Tekka reminded them swiftly, being the younger immediate cousin of Fugaku, they could pass for brothers. Most cousins were considered that anyway. Shisui and Itachi not being excluded in the least.

In any event, Yui raised a thin sculpted brow and cleared her throat. "Maybe referring to them by name would be more a bit more courteous to the _paranoid and insecure_." She suggested cuttingly making her presence known. They were obviously talking about her suspicions of the ANBU bitch taking her future husband. "And might I add that no suspicion is completely unfounded." She fiddled with the white embroidery on the hems of her sleeves.

Yashiro nodded. "Maybe it is time you put more faith in your betrothed, Yui-_kun_."

A ripple of agreeing murmurs followed. Shisui snickered.

She gritted her teeth. They always seemed to mock her. "I could always be placated if our wedding wasn't so postponed." Itachi gave very little, how could she be expected to not worry when he wouldn't even publically accept their betrothal? Let alone acknowledge her presence?

Itachi's eyes stirred and even though he was still within the flickering shadows, she could have sworn he had moved. "There is no logic in marrying a woman who stills needs to mature." His voice was calm and warm, something she could have swoon to, but his words were aimed for her throat.

"Mature?" She reiterated heatedly with hands gripping dyed silk harshly, the misty white dragons were like smoke drifting over charcoal.

"Maturity is only secondary." Itachi quipped coolly; he barely even kept her within his gaze. "It is your age that is most concerning."

She bristled immediately at that. "Ah, so it's my age?" Yui sneered, she was about to snap. "What am I, Itachi-kun… not young enough for you?" Her words were venomous.

Itachi's eyes immediately snapped up.

_Finally_, he was actually paying attention to her now. "What's wrong Itachi? Can't bear the idea of not fucking a little girl than an actual woman?"

"_Yui!"_ Fugaku snapped. "If you cannot hold your tongue than you will be removed-!"

"_Cunt!"_ Shisui lurched between teeth, he knew she just snuck that comment in out of resentment for this morning's treatment. Yui was not _old_ enough. For she was barely sixteen. She wasn't ready to be a mother. Not by a long shot by anyone's standards. Especially with that scathing remark. "Why the fuck would you say that?" He was seething, Yui was just being a vulgar bitch about certain things. Things that were hurting Chibi and even Itachi, in some remote way and he really wished she had a dick because he wanted to beat the shit out of her!

Even Uchiha Shisui didn't hit girls.

Yui didn't flinch. She was going to rip out Shisui's tongue, burn it and shove it up his ass for calling her that _again _in front of _everyone_! And no one even said a thing about Shisui's vulgarity? _Sexist pricks!_

Yashiro had a vein throbbing and Inabi looked smug while Tekka was murmuring to Fugaku. The Clan patriarch nodded. "It is for the best, yes." Fugaku looked up to her. "Uchiha Ryuunosuke, you are hereby removed from this committee."

_-the hell?_ "You can't be serious…"

"Your conflict of interests is interfering with much more pressing matters and is provoking differences between our fellow Clans." The Nara were beginning to rile at their accusations of Higurashi-Nara Kagome, which was saying a lot. Because it took a lot to rile a Nara, let alone an entire clan. "Your concerns will not voiced at the meeting and all accusations will be dropped in order to quell any disagreements between the Nara and Uchiha."

Yui buried her hands into silken sleeves, clenching the thin linen underneath. "I have never been so disrespected in my life." She spoke, with fire brimming to spill out along with any last shreds of dignity.

And with a flurry of silk, she walked away.

Shisui elbowed Itachi with a simper. "I told ya, it would work." Now the bitch was gone and they could live in peace for awhile.

"Hn." Itachi nodded.

…

They settled in a moist gully on the fringes of their borders; with dewed grass and moonlight pooling into the clearing, they camped in an abandoned croft. The building had been stripped and collapsed into, with only half remaining and support beams baring a fractured roof.

Neji had taken first watch, voluntarily placing himself high among the house's skeletal frame and looking out into the silvery gully with only the songs of frogs from a nearby brook keeping him company. A crane, who looked more like an owl was up in the rafters with the pale moon his silhouette and the snake and the cat coiling together in the night.

Sasuke and Kagome had ducked out swiftly enough, the foundation and flooring all but gone from years of seasons leaving grass shooting up in its place. Kagome fidgeted with her pack, with her cloak and mask already stripped and folded up. "You can take off your mask," she murmured as she unrolled the thin sleeping mat, flicking off a grasshopper.

Sasuke put it with the rest of his grey armor and boots. "You don't wear armor," he observed, his back against moldy wood and a hand draped over a propped knee. His dark bangs hung past and into his eyes.

Kagome stripped off the skin tight boots with hiss of pain. "They don't have my size," she quipped with amusement as she inspected the damage done to her feet. She had a thin ribbon of blisters trailing from her toes to the curve of her foot. "And it's too heavy."

"Your body isn't meant for it." Whether he was referring to the armor or her prior lagging, she didn't know.

Or maybe it was something else entirely?

She smiled bitterly. "Aa, I've always been quite weak."

"That's not what I meant."

She shrugged as she tentatively quelled the thin stream of blood from her foot. "That's what happens when you're out of commission for months on end though."

"And healing my brother has nothing to do with it?" He responded dryly.

"Could be." She looked up with eyes glistening silver on the rim. "Why?"

"You told me you could sense things. That it had to do with your family." Days ago, seemed like years now but she had told him.

Back when Itachi had been freshly missing and he had thought she was just placating the mind numbing worry that stretched bones and hollowed out hearts. He didn't press her for answers back then.

But he would now.

'_I can sense life easily, I never told anyone this but I think it has to do with my family…'_

"A lot of things I can do are probably related back to my family." She replied with eyes down as she prodded split skin. "Some things are… just hard to remember Sasuke." It ended in a whisper.

'_You never speak about them.' _Sasuke had said back to her.

'_I know. Because I __know__ most of them are dead.'_

"But you _do_ remember," he spoke deeply, dark eyes pooling with moonlight, like ink and pearls.

"It's not that simple." She bit out in the chilled air. "I am surrounded by dreams and memories, faces and names. I don't know what's real or what's not."

Sasuke said nothing, with skin pale and moonlit and eyes peering out beneath dark bangs. His silence answer was clear as the stars.

_All of it._

Kagome shook her head. "If I told you… even half of it. You'd think I was crazy." _No, no… not all. It can't possibly be all of it…no. _

She was trembling.

"What is it?" His voice murmured between breaths. He was desperate to know, to know something Itachi didn't, to feel something Naruto hadn't… "You told us in the hospital 'we had no idea'." His words thundered against her ribs. _Tell me, tell me why you're so scared. _

She brought up her knees to her chest, eyes hooded and numbly staring at the dewed grass. "You don't."

"Kagome." Her name rolled off his tongue deeply.

"_Sasuke."_ She sent back with sharp eyes. If he didn't like her answer he just said her name, as if it would solve everything like a command to a_ dog_. "I don't feel like talking about it," she warned and she was all blades and ice again.

"But you have no problem talking to my brother?" His fingers flexed into a fist and then uncurled once more. Knuckles white.

It was the waiting room all over again. "Why does everything have to be a competition with you?" She demanded harshly as she uncurled herself. "Maybe I don't feel like talking to you because I know you have ulterior motives." She stood over him, with his face in that cool bored expression as if she didn't matter.

He stood, slowly. Brushing against her and making her stumble back, she heard his breathing, it was loud and heavy. Tight lipped and through the nostrils in barely containable _raw_ emotion.

_In. _

_Out._

_In._

_Out._

He stood, no, towered over with her forehead just to his chest, she had to crane her neck just to meet his eyes. He waited, just breathing over her while he quelled whatever anger she had just spurred. "Ulterior motives?" He reiterated slowly,_ heatedly_. His voice rumbled from his chest and he was encroaching on her personal space, with the subtlest of movements brushing against her. "Why…" He sighed furiously. "Why the hell would you say something like that?" he whispered scathingly.

"Because you're driven by two things Uchiha Sasuke, rivalry and power." Her voice was like stone, cold and impenetrable. "That's the only reason you ever bother to even look at me, just so you have one up on your brother."

He couldn't believe his ears.

"But I ignored it, let myself believe that maybe you were there on your own accord…"She was seething and her voice was wavering but it hardened right back up. "So don't tell me to open up myself up and bear my soul to someone who can't even begin to _understand _and has no intention to." Itachi and Naruto had both come to her of their own accord, Naruto barely glimpsed her in front of the Academy and Itachi met her on a bridge. It was like the Kami sent them into her life simultaneously, each balancing out the other and filling in the gaps the other seemed to miss.

Sasuke simply was inevitable.

His brother and best friend involving her in their lives meant Sasuke was a staple, a given.

And whatever they wanted, Sasuke wanted.

Sasuke stilled under the moonlight, the planes of his face were half bleached, half shadowed. "Then why even bother with me?" He asked coolly. "If you were so sure, why give me that sword? Train with me and put me through to ANBU?" His voice was deathly low. "All of that effort for someone who doesn't even give a damn… is a _wasteful _thing to do."

She swallowed with eyes pale and brittle. "Because…" She trembled.

Sasuke dropped down, crouched with one knee on the ground, he gripped the side of neck. His hand could have curved around the entirety of her slender throat, but all he wanted to do was feel the flutter of her pulse. "Why sleep with me?"

The sudden surge her heart gave at those words made his eyes practically lull, because those words could be used to describe so many_ other_ things.

"You stayed, we shared a bed." And that was something extremely intimate between them, whether it was to stem nightmares or to have a warm body next to you, didn't matter. _Now tell me. "_Why?" _Would you do all that?_

Her eyes glistened and the tears brimmed too quickly. "Because…I…" Glassy rivulets streamed over lashes and cheeks. "Because I care for you." _Because I have too few people in my life, because I'm so lonely at night, because I don't want to see you get hurt, because I want to be there when you're fighting, because I care for Naruto, because I care for Itachi…_ "And they love you… so much." _And I want to be a part of that._

Sasuke's eyes closed and slowly, so very slowly she felt his head bow and lean against her chest. His hands slid from her neck to her back and then to her waist. He wrapped himself around her, because all he wanted to do was listen to heart.

Kagome gave out a strangled laugh and wrapped her arms around his warm neck and laced her fingers through his dark hair.

And silently, Uchiha Sasuke tried to understand.

…

Dawn was bitter, but whatever had happened between the yelling he had overheard the night prior seemed to have relieved some of the tension between them.

Of course, a quick glance to find them both practically draped over the one another was something Neji had erased from his memory as soon as humanly possible.

It was Uchiha who had relieved him of watch the last night and when Neji stumbled over his Captain by accident on his way to bed, he couldn't shake the warmth that radiated off of her like she had just been enveloped by another body a few moments prior.

She was smiling, even when asleep.

Now, they strode on, in the same trivet with his Captain bounding at much quicker pace than yesterday. Dawn was bitterly cold and wet, with a bloody red sun peeking over trees and gritty damask clouds. Everything was drenched in dew and his Captain's cloak was glistening scarlet.

No words had been spoken over a light breakfast of rations and no words had been said when they had set off again. The masks helped. There had been no obligations for mindless small talk or insincere facial expressions.

Uchiha's mask was a spine chilling sight in the sanguine dawn-light. He looked like a devil with a bladed black halo. Especially with those eyes, slipping beneath those porcelain slits.

Neji had seen enough red for one lifetime.

So he activated his Byakugan once more, bleaching out the world and keeping it at bay.

Sasuke's eyes had been activated since they had left camp a few hours prior. His Sharingan always saw reds in a much more saturated light than the other colors. So this morning when the entire world had been sliced by the sun and was bleeding, it was almost enough for him to get lost.

The world swirled around him, so readily _alive._ So rich with color, it was like breathing fire.

Fluttering and buzzing, tendrils of moss sung and dewdrops cried. Every detail was dyed the one color his eyes drank in and were never satiated by.

Kagome was ahead, her cloak swathed in the same ruddy tinge, with beads of dawn-tears slipping past. She stopped suddenly, the curve of her mask, that smiling cat mask, the one with blue curled whiskers that turned purple in the shambles of morning. It was supposed to be a lynx, but he couldn't see it. "This is the border."

And just ahead was a thick river, glistening vermillion and sloshing up against the dark bamboo forest across.

They darted across the invisible line between lands, with soft _splashes._

Threaded through and streaming into the tepid waters were smaller streams, like cherry red threads lacing through and between shadows to catch the dawn. The land ahead was swarming with them, it was like a parasite had taken over and was leeching off of the soil through the countless veins.

"The village is just ahead," she muttered as she crouched down, water rippling around her subtle movements. She crooked her head at one of the joining canals streaming and achingly, she dipped her fingertips. "Hebi, Tsuru…" They approached and Sasuke could only see it, for his Sharingan was able to detect the slightest variation in tints.

Especially in that _color._

Kagome ripped off her mask to get a better look. "Do you see this?" She looked up to Sasuke, into his _eyes._

It was hard to tell in the scarlet sunlight.

But her palm was smeared in watery blood. "I think we're too late."

But Sasuke realized that he was more disturbed, that with his Sharingan—

"Kagome…" His breath caught in his throat.

Her eyes were grey.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Right so, you guys know the drill but I added a few new things to the **Update Schedule**, kind of a way for you guys to redeem yourself and hopefully get caught up on lost updates. Either way it's up to you, last time you guys reviewed **35+** which resulted in one month of wait time. In response to those who think the updating is slow, seriously look at the length, each chapter is 10k of words. I've also noticed those who are complaining are either anon or don't have any stories of their own. So if you're speaking from experience than by all means I'll listen to you and we can have a nice little chat. But don't say things just to piss me off, (or at least respond back to my PM before going off on me) believe me I'm at my wit's end and might as well just _**drop and delete**_ the story if you guys keep on attacking me. And _**no**_, I'm not kidding. ~KK

**Chapter Sixteen Summary:** With Yui officially thrown out of the loop, the Clans meet and the result is in Kagome's favor... with everything going to plan a_ little too smoothly_, Itachi and Shisui scramble to keep certain Clans from tearing Kagome apart. After all, since when do Hyuuga and Uchiha _share **anything**_? With little to no answers on Kagome's past, the two great ANBU Captains and... _Sai_...are reduced to breaking and entering. For what better way to find answers than by snooping around a little prodigy's apartment? However, they find more than they bargained for and the possibilities are positively _bloody_. Meanwhile in a hospital not so far away, a certain elusive Sage with the sex drive of a jack rabbit discuss just _that_, sex! And with a demon, no less! Of course in Kawa no Kuni, while three little ANBU slosh through mud, corspes and sick people, they recieve a not so hospitable greeting from faces from Kagome's not so present, past. Yes, yes and I mean that they are _not_ natives to the Narutoverse. Guesses anyone? There are three of them.

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

1,000 _total_ = **Instantaneous** (none)

75+ = _Wednesday, _**October 13** (One week)

45+ = _Wednesday,_ **October 20**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **November 3**(One month)

20+= _Wednesday_, **December 1**(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **January 5**(Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Saturday, October, 9**_

_**The 1,000 review mark represents the total amount for the __**story**__ and __**not **__the chapter. This will be valid for __this__ chapter and the __next __**only**__**_

_**If the reviews meet the top numbers, you guys will receive a total of __**three **__updates within __**one**__ week**_


	16. Penumbra

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

**The Shelf, Kaminari no Kuni**

_**4 months ago…**_

Kaminari was a sight behold once you got past the winter storms and the Shelf, mountains and rock that iced over and encased the country in an impenetrable wall.

So after a good two weeks of dodging in and out of Tsuchi, the canyon that had protected them from the Hunter-nin had also acted as their never ending cage and a maze that only Deidara could lead them out of; they finally made a mad dash across the oceans in a three day long run to get past borders and persistent Hunter-nin.

They nearly died from dehydration and Deidara's clay birds couldn't carry them swiftly enough or too close to shore, because they were extremely noticeable and were still a bit awkward for Deidara to control; to prevent Kagome's collapse from fever.

Deidara had swooped them away into Taki after that and had her sweat out a fever in hypothermic waterfalls that would have killed anyone else.

All in all, it took three weeks to finally arrive and get past the borders of Lightning.

Kagome had never made it past the Shelf, the seemingly endless plateau of rock that held Kumo a few hundred Kilometers northeast. In fact she hadn't ever been on the Shelf during a relatively calm day let alone during the day. It was always a mad attempt of scaling the bluff in icy rain at night, so that the ANBU didn't catch her.

They always did.

But not this time.

Not with Deidara gliding them upwards and over the once impassable barrier from ocean-side on the back of a clay owl and landing easily enough on the very edge and cusp of the country's borders.

So standing on the rim of Kaminari's natural defense, with the toes of her boots poking past the edge, she stood among the clouds. Literally.

And looking down on the sprawling country below her was breathtaking. The black rock stretched behind her in a flat even line with hoarfrost puddles dotting the dips and scraggly plant-life as white glistening clouds drifted and danced silently around her like steam.

Kagome let the winds hit her in all their chilling vigor and sighed as she looked down on the mystical land, with its rolling moors, misty dark-pine forests, glassy lakes and glacial silhouettes below, untouched.

"Beautiful, isn't it," Kagome hummed as her cloak fluttered about.

Deidara shrugged as he unhooked their pseudo-packs from their large avian mount with a grunt. He wore a simple high-collared black cloak, one he was able to swindle out of Taki during her quick lapse in health. With his muggy blue combat attire and fishnet being poor defense for subzero temperatures, Kagome had finally persuaded him that if he was the one with the fever at that moment, he would be dead. Deidara's cloak fluttered about him as well and he dipped his face into the recesses of the collar as the fresh morning breezes soughed over the Shelf and harkened the aftermath of yet another nightly winter storm.

"We need to get moving, yeah," he urged as he swung both packs over his back and dispelled the large clay-bird. "We were discreet, yeah, but I don't think we went completely unnoticed."

Kagome nodded, keeping to the clouds had become difficult when they were both gasping for air after a few minutes and when Deidara said she was turning blue, they had both conceded to dipping back down to lower altitudes; leaving their detection all the more plausible.

"Ready?" Kagome looked up, the sun was white in the winter morning and gleaming on her skin and cloak.

Deidara smiled, "yeah."

And they both stepped off, falling together.

* * *

**-Chapter Sixteen-**

Penumbra

* * *

-_may you never see what I was,_

_darling, I made deals with monsters and devils long ago. _

_then again, you've always loved your demons._

_

* * *

_

**Kikyo Castle, Konohagakure**

**Present…**

"So it's settled then?"

A ripple of agreement coursed through the small cluster of Nara sitting across the large room with Shikaku at its head with a stern look on his face. "We will relay your apology to my daughter when she has returned from her mission with your son." His rough voice informed the Uchiha with Nara Yoshino turning red and still very much glaring at the Uchiha entourage sitting across from her and her own Clan members.

The lines on Fugaku's face deepened, it wasn't exactly an _apology._ Just a mere correction and statement that Higurashi-Nara Kagome would no longer be harassed with anymore accusations of trying to place herself higher in both the ranks of ANBU and marry into his Clan. "Please extend our gratitude as well, my son would not be where he is without your daughter's recommendation."

Shikaku nodded, eyes slipping to Itachi who was silent as stone next to his father. Something cooled in the young heir's eyes.

Itachi let his eyes steadily meet Nara Shikaku's. There was a tension in the man he had not seen before, something most likely related to his association with his _daughter._ It would pass, like all frivolous things. He would not antagonize the man either and hopefully Shisui would hold his tongue as he sat dutifully silent behind him and his father; because even Shisui knew that the Nara had 'dropped the ball' when raising her and dealing with Kagome's… _problems._

Itachi shifted slightly as he sat stoically just like all the others here. Wearing the traditional haori and hakamas always left him feeling open and exposed. The blackish blue fabric gaped and hung at vital points and was very easy to get a grip on.

But they were at the Kikyo Castle, the eldest building in all of Konoha and its main hall sat all prominent Clan patriarchs and their entourages comfortably.

A hundred or so bodies dotted the low table that stretched the expanse of the entire room, with only a few ornate and antique vases giving meek centerpiece to the long stretch of dark seamless wood. Tatami mats were comfortable enough, along with the heavily painted shoji screens encasing them all being the only decoration here.

Except for the swords on the far right wall, which looked too rusty and tattered to be of any use but held more value than most.

Hyuuga Hiashi sat at the head, with his own cluster of pale faced clansmen staring from behind and with insipid eyes. He_ had_ been the one who had called the meeting after all, but not just to quell vicious rumors and accusations but to discuss a much more pressing matter.

The Hyuuga head cleared his throat. "Now that is settled, we should address the main point of the meeting before proceeding to other topics." His hand moved though the air with his eloquent voice.

Nara Shikaku sat back, obviously this had to do with Kagome but it was not her decision to place a Hyuuga and Uchiha on the same squad. No, now all eyes slipped to the Uchiha heir and his clansmen. But he never flinched under their gaze, just remained still in his dark blue haori with arms buried deep within its sleeves and eyes staring out in his usual contemplative and cool stare. "I do not regret my actions, Hiashi-san." Itachi's tongue rolled over the words smoothly, they were dark velvet to everyone's ears.

"Of course you don't," Hiashi replied back thinly. "But I would like to know your reasoning."

"I have many reasons." His response came quickly. This conversation was already heavily premeditated.

"And those would be?" Hiashi pried with opalescent eyes boring into the dark recesses of the Uchiha. "Or could you at least divulge something from this grand scheme of yours."

Fugaku riled. "If you're going to speak to my son in such a condescending manner than I can assure we will get nowhere." He sounded more exasperated than defending, he too wanted to know.

Shisui rolled his eyes. "Doesn't anybody know what Hatake Kakashi has been doing?"

A few murmurs reverberated, especially those from the Sarutobi clan with Asuma showing obvious discontent. "I would like to hear yet another set of unfounded accusations brought on by the Uchiha Clan."

The look Fugaku gave was a nasty one, his face contorted into one of displeasure while Itachi remained serene. "No suspicion has ever been unfounded and our relationship with the Copy Ninja has always been a strained one; especially after he took my deceased nephew's Kekkei Genkai." Obito's death was just the first uproar Kakashi had caused.

Shisui bristled in agreement with his uncle. "Hatake Kakashi is just sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, _again_…" He looked straight at Nara Shikaku. "Who do you think took your daughter off probation?" _And didn't give a damn if he threw her back to the wolves._

Shikaku stiffened. "What?" His voice clipped. "I was told the council agreed upon it."

"They did." Shisui gritted out, his brow furrowing into a seething set of obsidian eyes. "But it was _Kakashi _who pressed the matter."

"Obviously he did it for a reason." Asuma jutted in.

Shisui leaned back with a frown and let his cousin take over. "Hai, he did." Itachi replied smoothly. "To thwart any chance of my brother being placed with Higurashi-san and so that Sasuke was guaranteed Shisui's vacant place on my squadron."

Voices broke out audibly, whispers became open commentary.

To put such a tenderfoot of an ANBU as the Second in a prestigious Assassinations squad was beyond risky, it was reckless, it was suicide.

It was then, as if right on queue, Uchiha Fugaku stood.

"Hatake Kakashi obviously has high aspirations for his students." With Uzumaki Naruto gunning for Hokage and Haruno Sakura being the apprentice of one, Sasuke almost was being considered dead weight with his lack of future goals. "However when Higurashi Kagome came into the picture and began training and recommended my son for ANBU…" Fugaku's implications were clear. _He couldn't handle her taking his spotlight. Couldn't take that another was claiming credit for his prestigious students._ "He immediately took action and wanted her separated from my son immediately, casting her off to ANBU without as much as a second thought. He would have succeeded if it had not been for my observant eldest…"

Itachi nodded slightly. "It was then, I countered by suggesting the pairing of Hyuuga Neji and my brother, Uchiha Sasuke." He paused and cast a chilled glance to Asuma. "The council agreed."

Asuma stood abruptly. "I never have heard anything of this! Kakashi is not that kind of person!"

Hyuuga Hiashi raised a hand for him to settle. "Whether or not, you are offended, Sarutobi Asuma, please note, that this… _matter_ does not directly affect you."

Asuma regained his composure and immediately placated. "This behavior is getting ridiculous." He muttered with a sidelong glance to Fugaku.

Hiashi eyes rolled over to the Uchiha. "Your reasoning for your own has been voiced, now I want to hear why my nephew was dragged into all of this."

Fugaku nodded. "Higurashi Kagome recommended your nephew for the sole purpose of healthy rivalry. Each of our boys have always competed in a positive manner, especially during the Chuunin Exams. She took this as another opportune time to drive the two to succeed and I once again regret any trouble my niece, Uchiha Ryuunosuke has caused for Higurashi Kagome, as her actions proved once again to be in right place."

Shisui nodded, this was turning out very smoothly. Ever since Yui had disrespected Chibi this morning, Itachi had begun to convince his father what the potential teaming of a Hyuuga and Uchiha could mean, switching Chibi to a primary enemy to an open doorway with endless possibilities.

And those possibilities were mouthwatering.

"My son has informed me of the capabilities this new team may possess…" And so began the long winded explanation of each one of them.

Shisui smirked with fingers lacing behind his neck as he reclined back and listened to his own inside commentator of what Itachi had fed Fugaku to say and _sell _to the Hyuuga.

First up, Uchiha Sasuke of course. Ninjutsu skills far exceeding anyone his age; his repertoire of Jutsu was advanced, varying in two deathly elements of Lightning and Fire. Along with his advancing swordsmanship and mature Sharingan, he was a strong Uchiha and beyond capable for ANBU.

Next, was Higurashi-Nara Kagome. A prodigy in her own right, with Ninjutsu also within an impressive rank of Wind and Water elements, but she was Genjutsu based through and through with weapon training with her short sword to stop anyone who got to close. Her intellect and experience kept her within Captain rank and perfectly able to lead the team.

Last but not least, Hyuuga Neji. Taijutsu far surpassing any on his team along with the mastering of his Clan's techniques, he is most powerful in short range but his eyes would detect any enemies from miles away. With the ability to kill in one hit, meant less chakra drained from his other teammates, who had much more flashy Jutsu. Along with the skill to disable chakra networks and organs, he too, though not as ostentatious as his other teammates, was the piece that completed the puzzle.

"Through the balance of nearly four mastered elements, we can start collaboration Jutsu training immediately, along with the combined Doujutsu and the even distributions of Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu, this may prove to be one of the most capable teams ever created." Fugaku looked beyond satisfied with himself.

Many other clans had their mouths gaping, letting the information seep in. This team had no weaknesses, the only thing it was missing was Earth based Jutsu which was easily nullified with Lightning.

Collaboration training meant two shinobi combining their elements into powerful results. Wind made Fire stronger, Water spread Lightning. Kagome was the perfect conduit for Sasuke. She also took care of his weakness of Genjutsu, as long as she was around, her skills would detect any danger to him until he strengthened his Sharingan to counter such effects.

The Hyuuga was simply there out of convenience, Itachi mused. He placed him with his brother and Kagome for the mere purpose that the Hyuuga was a noble sort and only ever stooped as low as rivalry. His Taijutsu abilities and Byakugan only added to the positives, he would protect his brother and Kagome with little thought and reservation. The Hyuuga could be trusted, that much he knew.

After all, he had been watching him for years.

Hiashi's eyes were slightly widened. "Make that five Elements, Fugaku," he informed him with a slightly less stern expression.

Fugaku sat back, arms crossed and a look of complete satisfaction. The Hyuuga patriarch and him were on the same page, they could set aside their differences for _this_. "Oh?"

Hiashi nodded. "Neji has been showing signs of the Earth Element." Though the Hyuuga rarely dabbled in Elemental Ninjutsu, it was still present in their chakra, whether they needed it or not. "I believe that is the only piece missing to your _perfect_ team."

Fugaku nodded. "It _was_."

"Good. I will look into developing his abilities more then, we cannot have even the slightest of weaknesses in this team." Hiashi declared.

"Hold on." Shikaku jutted in. It was all fine and dandy that everyone was getting what they wanted but they were overlooking a major detail. "One day, the time will come for Kagome to choose a Captain to replace her as she proceeds onto a full platoon."

The only way to become a Captain was to be recommended by _another_ Captain.

And they were only allowed to choose_ one_.

"Hardly an issue, this team will remain solidified for quite a time if all goes well." Hiashi laced his fingers under his chin.

Shikaku highly doubted each clan would be satisfied with just _this_, with no hopes of either boy becoming a Captain.

Fugaku smirked. "Yes, until then, healthy rivalry is always a good driving force."

Itachi stiffened as did Shisui. They knew what those choice nonchalant words meant; each patriarch was putting on a face so not to draw out the other.

They would compete ruthlessly to gain the favor of Higurashi Kagome, so that she would choose correctly when the day came.

Shisui leaned down to Itachi's ear. "Well fuck, that just took a 180." Going from most despised of the Uchiha to the coveted key to Captainship in a few short hours almost gave Shisui whiplash.

Itachi rubbed his temples suddenly, the most movement he had given in the space of hours. "Shisui…"

"Yeah, boss?"

"We need to watch this very closely." For when the entirety of the Uchiha and Hyuuga compete, things got _ugly._

Shisui chuckled under his breath. "Isn't that what we always do?"

…

When they had discovered blood in the river, their speed had tripled. But it wasn't fast enough, the bamboo was thick and splittingly sharp when broken by a too quick step. Eventually the morning peeled off, leaving a dank grey fog in its bloody footprint.

The sun ducked out and into the fog with a lightening of pink on the rims before disappearing for the rest of the day. The fog was worse, it seeped into her clothes without actually getting them wet and made her bones ache and tremble from the sharpness of the cold.

Kawa no Kuni was eerie at this time of day, especially in the stillness of the bamboo forest with only the soft trickling of a thousand streams being their company.

Eventually they arrived on the fringes of a clearing, where grass was sloshed up with more mud than actual foliage and a few primordial huts came into view. Smoke was mixing with the grey haze that blotted out the sun, making the sky even gloomier.

Kagome broke out into a sprint, still following the same river that had held the blood, like a lifeline.

Neji followed after, with Sasuke eyeing a few glimmers of white to the east. "Left side, incoming," he murmured under his breath.

Kagome halted immediately and unsheathed her wakizashi. She dropped her hood as she fiddled with her short sword. _"Tsuru," _she hissed."Ten o'clock."

Neji's Byakugan immediately glanced in the specified direction. "Three."

Kagome flipped her short sword about her fingers and twirled it around wrist with the metal singing. "Rank?"

"Jounin."

"Specifics?"

Neji concentrated on their chakra, the flux of energy was tinted green. "Med-nin." He immediately relaxed. "They're from Konoha."

Sasuke shook his head as his fingers slacked away from his sheathed weapon. "They're the Medical Dispatch." He intoned evenly as the red kanji, 医 blared out on their muddled white attire.

So much for rendezvousing at the border.

Kagome's weapon disappeared as she waited and sure enough three white clad Med-nin poked out of the forest and into muddy clearing. Their white trench coats were dirtied and their berets were askew.

"Koneko-chan!" The middle waved and called.

Neji's eyebrow twitched. _Kitten?_

"You know them?" Sasuke commented dryly, noting that the three Med-nin were all… _women._

Kagome sighed in resignation. "Unfortunately…" And with a swift movement, she pushed back her mask and strode over to the trio of Med-nin who were actually _running_ to her.

The middle grabbed Kagome and consumed her in a squealing embrace. "Oh Kagome-chan! I thought I'd never _ever ever_ see you again!"

Kagome hung limply with a fowl expression.

"Eri, let her go…Yuka do something."

"Shut up, Ayumi!"

Neji and Sasuke stood awkwardly, with faces blank as their masks. To the impervious newly made ANBU, they honestly could not distinguish one from the other. They looked like triplets. Clones. That made sounds that could make a man's ears bleed.

"Eri…" Kagome gritted out. Just because she was small didn't mean she was a stuffed animal! "Put me down. _Now_."

Eri laughed nervously. "Okay, okay…" And she placed the little ANBU down with the _squish_ of mud at her feet. "I heard they let you off of the hook, but then again I heard a lot of things…" Eri muttered as she irritably took off her med-cap to release her fussy bangs and shoulder length hair. "So it's true then, you're back?" She beamed.

Kagome nodded.

"So who's the Uchiha and Hyuuga?" Yuka pried as she fiddled with her own clean cut bob. "What? I can see their eyes from behind those masks."

Ayumi shook her head as she ran her fingers through her wavy tresses. "That's classified, Yuka and you know it."

"Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji!" Eri squealed pointing at them. "I knew it!"

Kagome slapped a hand on her face. Great, she forgot about how infatuated this trio could get.

Yuka gaped. "Wow, you sure snagged a few didn't you, Kagome-chan?"

Kagome just buried her face into her palms. "You have _no _idea…"

"Oh I bet we don't," Ayumi chimed. "But we should get down to business."

Two anomalous eyes poked out between fingertips. "Yes," Kagome straightened. "We should."

"You missed the rendezvous point." Sasuke spoke deeply, the mask slightly roughing up his voice.

All three Med-nin swooned.

Kagome cleared her throat.

"Oh… right, right…well we have a very good excuse for _that," _Eri piped up.

Yuka nodded. "Kage's team came and escorted us instead, along with the Disposal/Recovery unit."

"Then why are you out here?" Kagome queried with eyes narrowing.

"Bastards wouldn't let us in once we got here, they scouted the area and came back declaring it a crime scene and only let the Disposal/Recovery enter," Eri muttered heatedly. "Sexist pri-"

"Okay!" Ayumi sung over her teammate. "Obviously we are having some trouble here."

"People are dying without us!" Eri snapped. "Or already dead!"

"He's breaking code if this is true. Did he give you a reason?" Kagome cast a look over to village in the distance, the smoke plume was starting to get darker.

Yuka nodded. "Said we needed clearance."

Kagome shook her head as she pulled her neko mask over once more. "Let's go, then."

"What are you going to do?" Ayumi inquired timidly.

"I'm your clearance." Kagome's wakizashi materialized within her palms, glistening even in the muggy light. "Let's go."

"Hai, Koneko-chan!" The trio chimed simultaneously.

…

The problem with pissing Kyuubi off, was that it took a long while to get _back._

_Back _as in reality, like waking up was a major trial of willpower. But what seemed like months of screaming and tearing through every mental barrier the Kyuubi had placed him in… was only hindered more when his physical shell caught up to his psyche.

_Did they sedate me again?_

He thought groggily as light filtered past lashes and straight into his eyes. It burned as he felt his pupils constrict and ache.

As usual, Sakura was humming next to the window with a book in splayed palms and a syringe within reach.

Kami forbid he freak out. _Again._

"Sakura-chan?"

Her eyebrows raised but she didn't look up. She was a dainty little thing, with a rosette halo and lab coat draped over her, she looked like an innocent young doctor.

Little did anyone know that she could shatter bones with the flick of a finger.

He groaned and tried to sit up, but he was strapped to the gurney. "Ugh… how long have I been out?"

"Two days." And the book shut with a _snap._ "And still waiting for an apology." Jade eyes pooled darkly.

"You're the one who went off and told baa-chan _all _about Kagome's healing Itachi," he growled under his breath as he recalled _why _he had been knocked out in the first place. He had been so angry with Sakura… "Now they're gonna run all kinds of experiments and tests on her…"

"You don't know that," Sakura responded calmly. "Shishou promised me she would keep Kagome's best interests a top priority."

"You don't know that," he spat her own words right back at her. "The Council and Danzo will dissect her like a frog."

"I highly doubt that…" Sakura said bemusedly. "Things have changed over the past few days, Naruto. Shishou and I have been doing tons of research and even Shisui blurted out Kagome's healing to Mikoto-san and Yui-san by accident and they totally disregarded it." Well Yui did at least, she didn't really grasp the concept all too well and Mikoto… well that woman was never what she appeared to be. "Shisui even told me that clan meeting last night went really good and that the Uchiha will stop accusing Kagome of such atrocious things…" Sakura was smiling softly, with jade eyes deep and content. "You see, Naruto… everything is turning around for the better."

But his lips were still pouting and his eyes were steely. "That doesn't mean that baa-chan is gonna sit and do nothing."

"Of course not, but she is beginning a process of much more therapeutic ways to extract memories and hopefully activate and get a handle on whatever power Kagome has." Sakura sighed. "She even told me of how the Kyuubi is reacting to her…"

Naruto stiffened right up. "How did she find out about that?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm sure I'm not the only one in communication with her."

One word:_ Itachi._

"_That bastard!"_ Naruto snarled. "He's manipulating people again."

"Naruto calm down," Sakura commanded. _"Listen to me!"_

He stilled momentarily for her. Because it was still Sakura-chan and she could just as easily break his heart and his bones in one moment.

"Do you even know what happened to her family?" Sakura asked harshly.

Naruto turned away, he could guess a few things but he would never voice them.

"Kagome-chan's family is most likely _dead."_ Sakura walked over and stood over him. "And she probably just barely got away, that means that something is probably after her or maybe even whatever power she has could have killed them." It was one of theories Tsunade had brought up, one that was to never be voiced around Kagome.

"Don't say things like that!" Naruto hollered. "She's only ever healed people!"

Sakura shook her head. "She nearly blinded Uchiha Itachi with a single touch. Imagine what she could do if she got truly angry or really wanted to harm someone. She's out of control of her own body, Naruto…" Sakura was pleading. "You know how that feels… wouldn't you give anything to not have that fear?" _The fear of hurting the ones closest to you._

Naruto just sighed and settled. "Fine," he rasped. "But if they hurt her…"

"I know, I know… you'll kill them." Sakura smirked. "Don't worry; I'll disembowel them with you."

Naruto nodded seriously. "Good."

Sakura flipped the buckles and slowly unstrapped the Jinchuuriki. "Now, my apology?" She prompted.

Naruto sat up as he rubbed his sore wrists. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" She cupped her ear.

"I'm sorry for getting mad and holding you too tight, even though you could have flicked me off with your pinky…" Naruto groaned.

Sakura tousled his hair. "Good, now for some bad news…and then some more bad news."

"No good?" Naruto looked up with wide gaping ocean eyes.

Sakura shook her head. "Unfortunately, Jiraiya-sensei is here…" She muttered regrettably.

"Well that's not so bad!" Naruto beamed, whiskered cheeks and all.

"And…"

"Ero-Sennin!" He leaped off the gurney.

"Kagome and Sasuke are gone on a mission."

Naruto paused. Naruto blinked. Naruto turned around suddenly. "WHAT?"

Sakura winced, she always hated that screaming rasping noise he did when he was aghast.

"When?" He was shaking her, albeit _not_ hard.

Pink hair bobbed. "Yesterday."

Naruto sunk to the floor, he was nothing but a moping blonde puddle of orange and black. "I'm all ALONE!" He howled. "How could they do this to me?"

Sakura sent a quick kick to his shin.

"_Ita!"_

"Baka, you still have me!" She hissed.

"But I want Kagome-chan!" And he took off to the door.

"Oh no you don't!" She grabbed his collar and yanked him back. "You're staying right here! Jiraya-sensei is going to be here soon to look at your seal."

"B-But S-Sakura-chaaan!" He whined, clawing at the doorframe, _literally._

"Are you seriously crying? _Seriously?_!"

…

"Itachi, I'm telling you this isn't a good idea." Shisui whispered as he crept about. "And if _I'm _saying that, then you _know_ it's a really _bad _idea." He winced when the wooden floor creaked beneath my toes.

"Hn." And another random scroll was tossed over, sending Shisui sprawling to catch.

Shisui ran a hand over his scalp in his usual nervous tick. Of course _now_ was the most opportune time to go break and entering when the tenant was far away on some mission that the _burglar_ had suggested them on.

Said _burglar_ sat, cross legged before a meek bookshelf with terrible posture, so much so that Itachi's shoulder blades stuck out like knives. The guy was just too thin to be normal nowadays.

Itachi rummaged through most of her documents quietly, only giving the customary grunt as his own noncommittal response. And Shisui knew that when Itachi got really frustrated, he started… _throwing _things.

_Like now._

A stuffed cat was sent through the air.

Shisui caught it and jammed it under his arm where all the other stuff that needed to go back was, which ranged from dead potted plants to atrocious sweaters to random scrolls "I thought she had a cat?" Shisui said as he started clicking his tongue, calling _'here, kitty, kitty…'_ Did the thing only appear when Chibi was around? Eventually when the fat ball of fur didn't show, Shisui huffed and dropped to the floor in defeat.

He didn't even know what it was they were looking for in Chibi's apartment.

"Taicho." But apparently Sai did. "Is this of interest?" He held up an entire box.

Itachi nodded from his position.

Sai dumped the contents unceremoniously onto the wood.

Shisui blanched. "We can at least _not _trash the place!"

Sai shifted his tanto on his back. "Everything will be put back into its rightful place," he assured with one of those _smiles._

In one fluid motion, Itachi was up and walking over to the contents splayed across the floors. Crouching and with fingertips cupping his chin, his eyes glazed over the small articles of clothing and jewelry. The sun was stripping in through the flapping sheet that was currently Kagome's pseudo-window.

"This is a security concern." Sai mused as his ashen fingers fiddled with the porous fabric.

Itachi barely took note of his teammate's comment as he stroked a small sleeve of what looked like a kimono. "This was made for a child."

Shisui peered over him. "More like a toddler, do they even make kimonos that small?" Sure maybe a yukata but a kimono was just ridiculous for kid, it practically screamed wealth.

Itachi said nothing, _obviously they do._ His brow drew together as he lifted the small silk garment. Pristine ivory had now faded to a muted yellow, but that was not what made the Uchiha's eyes sharpen.

"Huh, just like it said in the report…" Shisui laced his fingers behind his neck. "Guess she really was found covered in blood."

"Blood only dries that way, if the person killed, died violently." Sai observed, as he too caught notice of the reddish-brown stain that stretched the entire front and pooled into the back. Bloodstains this old resembled usually nothing more than scabs, but the red hue that this one displayed was exactly as Sai had said.

"Shisui," Itachi beckoned fluidly.

"Hm?" He leaned over to inspect it, activating his Sharingan in the process.

"Do you recognize this crest?"

He let his Kekkei Genkai do the work, wondering how Itachi was able to decipher the _red _crest underneath the blood. It was subtle to detect even with his Sharingan. "No." He blinked and his eyes resumed their usual somber state. "How do you know that's a crest?" It wasn't traditional, say for like the Uchiwa fan which was usually centered or showcased on the garment, but this one only took up the right sleeve, like a design or pattern.

The red honeycomb design embroidered with flowers within, webbed its way down from the nape to the shoulder to all the way down the sleeve. Only the very fringes of it were unstained.

"This was custom made. All designs have a purpose," Sai intoned as his inky black eyes scanned over the bloodied garment. "Taichou, is that fur?" He gestured to the small bundle that had also fallen out of the box.

"Looks like someone shit a poodle."

Itachi blinked.

"_What_… would compel you to say something like that?" Itachi responded deathly still.

Shisui shrugged. "It _does_ look like it."

_Then…_"Don't touch it." Itachi's voice cut.

"Why?" Shisui complained as he retracted his straying hand, it looked soft and cuddly. "You always gotta take the fun out of _everything_." Itachi was seldom ever grumpy and when he was, he remarked on his comments with a sort of exasperation that almost made him seem human.

"There is something unnatural about that particular item, Taicho." Sai stepped back with his chin cupped. "Is this type of energy usually like this?" He lightly referred to the incident where he had become unconscious. "Kagome's energy could not be pinpointed at that time, maybe this is the same?"

Shisui stood disregarding whatever information had been produced. "Since when are you on a first name basis?" He inquired heatedly.

"Kagome and Sai were once acquainted." Itachi's eyes slipped up to his new Second. "Weren't you?" The fluidity of the statement was by no means, improvised.

Sai nodded. "It was out of convenience, Taicho." He tilted his head after his seamless response. "How did you garner such information?"

"Your reaction to each other only confirmed my suspicions." Uchiha Itachi _never_ gave away his sources. So after the Hokage had hinted at something, he had looked into it, it was rather surprising to say the least but the fact that they both ignored each other in the hospital a few days prior only meant the reports were true.

"Hm."

Shisui scratched his head. "Yeah, so what happened between them?"

"Another time, Shisui." Itachi instructed as he let his fingertips glide over the box's contents. He picked up a single feather. Its fluffy fibers at the base fluttered lazily in the draft.

"I have a bad feeling about that one." Shisui pointed at the small downy feather that Itachi twirled about. "Nothing in that box feels _natural._ We should g-_"_

A knock resounding throughout the small flat stilled the three ANBU.

"_Higurashi-san! I know you're in there! I can hear you!"_

"Oh shit." Shisui took to the ceiling almost immediately.

Sai stepped fluidly back into the shadows, melding as he scrawled a picture onto a scroll with ink. In a second's notice he would be gone and in flight on the back of an eagle.

However Itachi stood lithely and strode over to the door, opened it and politely greeted a pesky landlord.

"Who are you?" A stout man with pockmarked skin and a scraggly beard fumed.

"ANBU, we are conducting an investigation, Jinushi-san." Itachi replied calmly.

"I _see _that," the man grumbled peering around Itachi's waist to see into the apartment. "Then inform your fellow _ANBU _that she's late on her rent _again_ and that I've had enough. I'm evicting her within the week if she doesn't pay up." And with that he waddled off.

When the door closed, Shisui dropped down and Sai emerged from the shadows. "What a prick." Shisui glared at the now closed door. "Where will Chibs live now?"

"You could always lend her money," Sai suggested.

Shisui gawked. "That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day, she won't be anyone's charity case."

"Then it seems she has very limited options." And Sai ambled off to do some more rummaging.

"Chibi should just move in with us," Shisui huffed. "What? It's not that impossible of an idea, the Clan will love that. You heard 'em last night. They want her to favor the _brat_ over the Hyuuga and will suck up to her until she makes him Captain." Shisui leaned against the wall with arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "Plus, it would be a good start for your new little wife to learn the ropes of Clan life."

"Shisui." Itachi's voice was sharp, he'd thought that term for Kagome had ceased. "You need to stop referring to Higurashi-san as my _wife."_ The way he said wife, would make any woman wince.

"Why? That's what happens when two people have babies or _before_… because you know..."

Itachi closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His cousin was getting ahead of himself, to the point of inappropriate. "You have _not_ spoken a word to Higurashi-san about this?"

Shisui rolled his eyes at the stubborn surname Itachi would never give up. "About what?"

The look Itachi deadpanned was enough to freeze an ocean.

"—like maybe a word or two?" Shisui nudged a fan with his toe.

'_What? I just want you and Itachi to have babies.'_ Were actually his exact words, when she had stood half_ naked_ in her apartment _alone_ with _him_ at the time…

Ah, the things Itachi would never know.

And if he did—

He would be dead by now.

"And her reaction?" Itachi queried as he observed a bejeweled comb among the heap of silk and fur.

Shisui clicked his tongue. "She seemed stunned… but hey, she's still young."

"You shouldn't fill her head with such fantasies, Shisui." Itachi chastised somberly. "Especially if she is already accustomed to the idea." Disappointment stemmed from unmet expectations, she would never be disappointed if she did not expect anything else from him.

"Why? You actually plan on marrying Yui?" Shisui snorted.

"No," Itachi intoned too smoothly. "I just never intend on having children."

…

_Kage_.

Nobody knew his real name, said he discarded it once he became ANBU and ever since then, he has been the Captain of Squadron 1 in the Dispatch/Combat Department, the main body of ANBU. All other, divisions were limbs to this main body, Intelligence/Reconnaissance (or what was left of it), Communications, Cipher Core, Disposal/ Recovery (which branched off into Hunter-nin), Perambulations, Strategic Planning and the Torture and Interrogation Force were but a few of the ever-changing Departments that branched off of the Combat Division.

The Dispatch/Combat Department were the ones called onto first, they were on the front line of every battle, every war and they were the ones who assisted the Jounin and Chuunin in many fights.

And Kage's team was the first squad in line of this massive unit.

While Itachi held efficiency with a single platoon. The Assassinations Division was the smallest.

Kage held direct command over _three_ and kept his hands in all others that prior teammates of his, now Captains due to his promotions, held command over.

It was a never ending web that this one man had monopolized.

And when her solo status had been revoked after the 'incident' a few months prior. She had been placed not only in his department, not only his platoon, but on his own personal unit as an attachment for Reconnaissance.

Needless to say, she had relapsed back then and had caused a great danger to Kage's platoon.

She had relied on his callousness back then, her selfish thoughts told her he would let her die when she went AWOL.

But apparently he didn't, somewhere deep down Kage had cared enough to slaughter the nuke-nin who had attacked her. Whatever frustration or hatred he held for her, he had taken it out on those men and women.

She paused suddenly, with the mud sloshing up on her waterproof boots and the fog settling on the village ahead; she simply couldn't suppress the chill reverberating in her chest and threading through her fluttering heart.

Kagome turned, she had no doubt Kage was waiting for her. "Listen." She murmured between breaths.

Sasuke and Neji stilled while the three women behind them suddenly quieted.

"If things get ugly, take the Med-nin and go." She instructed tensely, her blade was tipping heavily in her hand.

"That is not happening," Sasuke clipped, his eyes a deep onyx pooling beneath the slits of his mask.

Kagome sent a glance to Neji.

The Hyuuga nodded, whether it meant incapacitating Sasuke or taking over and getting Eri, Ayumi and Yuka out of there didn't matter to her.

She would drop Sasuke like a rock with the simplest of Genjutsu if he proved to fuss.

And so, with blade drawn and quiet steps, she needled her away through the empty huts and into the heart of village, where the chakra signatures were emanating from.

Metal sung when Sasuke drew his blade, the straight-edged chokutō was sleek and no longer awkward in the Uchiha's hands. He nodded and tailed her when Neji directed them to proceed.

Kagome sped ahead, with heart thundering against her ribs, she flickered into the center in a crouch with her short sword hovering over the damp soil.

A dozen ANBU looked in her direction, a cluster were scattered among the roofs and the rest lurked in the alleyways and alcoves while the Disposal/Recovery team, recognized by their red bands on their arms were cleaning up the _mess._

They dragged the bodies of victims with little to no respect for the dead. These were the gravediggers of ANBU. The lowest of the low.

"_Kage."_ She breathed out, at the man perched above the area on a small outcropping. He never wore a mask. He didn't need one, his identity was his codename. He was nothing _but_ ANBU.

His eyes were that silvery grey that took on any color that he was around and his sooty blonde hair was tossed over Hitai-ate in sharp bangs. _"Yamaneko," _he greeted listlessly to the pristinely cloaked girl. "You're late."

She forgot how young he looked.

And with the slightest of movements, she was coupled by his ANBU. Kagome stiffened out of their immediate striking range. "You escorted the Med-nin instead and then prohibited them clearance to enter the area?" Kagome pushed back her mask, her eyes muddled with confusion. "Your actions have proven nothing." She glanced darkly over to mounting number of carcasses. "People could've survived."

Kage shrugged. "This area has been quarantined so that all of the_ infected_ would be rid of."

Kagome's eyes widened, trembling with realization. He let them die. He let them _all_ die…

"The Med-nin may proceed now to heal the _salvageable_, along with taking samples." Kage tilted his head towards her. "After all, this is still very much an investigation."

She dug her nails into the sheath of her short sword. She was calm now, deathly so. She couldn't do anything about it now, she would report this… The Hokage would act on this.

"There was no course of prior incidents; this_ sickness _was placed here with malicious intent and is assumed to be an experiment of sorts," Kage explained sparingly. "My personal medic has never seen this particular strain before."

It was then she heard the soft pitter-patter of footsteps on mud. Neji and Sasuke immediately flanked her and angled themselves so that the ANBU encroaching on Kagome stepped back.

Feeling the tension in the air and the way Med-nin were keeping their distance, made Kagome realize this could get out of control very fast. She sheathed her weapon. "Hebi, Tsuru…" She signaled them to stand down.

Neji immediately placated and released his fighting stance. Sasuke twirled the chokutō about in a blur before sending it straight back into its sheath without so much as blinking.

"An experiment?" Kagome questioned, returning to Kage's and hers prior conversation with brows furrowing. "As in someone placed the plague here to test this new strand?" Her eyes dipped to the rancid soil. It was blackened with blood and other vile things.

Kage nodded, the sun was peeking through behind him, the thinning clouds igniting in white instead of the muggy grey. "The Hokage has already authorized our actions and we will be delivering a list of suspects to her when we return."

So much for reporting him.

"Who are the most prominent?" Her voice rang out and Eri, Ayumi and Yuka scurried timorously behind her.

Kage raised a brow, his eyes skimming over Yamaneko's group.

So it was true, she did garner Uchiha's little brother. "Orochimaru, as usual." He spoke with steely grey eyes lingering over Sasuke's snake mask. "I can request backing from your team, if you would like?"

Sasuke watched as Kagome stiffened, it seemed like a genial offer: to extend an opportunity to track down one of the great Sannin. However this _Kage_, didn't seem to be on good terms with her and whatever Kage's reasoning, it probably wasn't in their best interests.

"I will have to decline; my new recruits are not ready for such a mission," she bowed her head slightly in gratitude. The last thing she would be doing is taking Sasuke and Neji on a wild goose chase that always ended with the weakest _dead_.

"Ah, you should not baby them, _Koneko-chan_." He smirked, obviously contented with the knowledge that she cared for her new teammates. "If you do, one day they might just get snatched away and you won't be able to protect them."

"Is that a threat?" Kagome took a step forward; there was a dull hiss to the wind around them. Barely perceptible.

Kage shrugged, with one hand draped over a propped knee. "Maybe. Why, would you lose that ridiculous self-regard that nearly killed my team if they died?"

A screech of thermals soughing above was Kagome's only response.

Kage's eyes flittered with sunlight. "Hm, you can't protect them from everything, or will you just abandon them?"

It happened swiftly, the rock, Kage was lounging on, split with earsplitting _crack_. It had come from the sky with a siphoning roar. The ANBU Captain flickered out of sight and landed before the smaller. "Fine, we'll leave." He sent a wavering glance to the crumbling boulder. "But let me ask you something?"

Kagome was silent; her eyes were murky with shadows flickering past.

"Why…?"Kage's suave expression faltered suddenly, his confidence softened for but a moment when he stared into her ashen features.

It was when Sasuke took a step forward that the ANBU Captain was struck out of his reverie.

"Never mind." Kage straightened and with a swift circling motion, each of his posted ANBU disappeared. He looked at the young Uchiha. Sasuke was his name, wasn't it? "Uchiha…" He began with a drawl, eyes flinty. "Take off your mask."

Kagome knew that look. "Kage, _don't." _

Sasuke didn't miss a beat, he pushed back his sleek snake mask over his slightly damp, blue-black spikes.

Kage let his eyes memorize the face. Broader jaw, with deep set eyes just like Itachi, but he didn't have the grace or the slight felinity to his features as the prodigy did, nor did he have sallow complexion or hollowness beneath those eyes. And the hair was absolutely unmistakable. "You take care of the bodies," he ordered.

Sasuke didn't flinch but nodded.

"No," Kagome protested breathily. "That can be taken care of by someone else."

Kage shrugged. "My platoon is nearly half a league away by now, they're your responsibility now." He walked away from them, letting their eyes soak up his back. "See you around, _Koneko-chan_." And he wafted away with the wind.

Kagome stared at the empty space, sun was flittering through gossamer clouds and trickling over the village now.

Sasuke placed a hand on her elbow-

Only to have her rip it out of his grasp. "Don't touch me." Her bangs hid her eyes.

"Kagome." It flowed too quickly, too sharply from his lips.

"I don't need _anything _from you." Her scathing words were all she said as she ambled off.

His palm fell limply to his thigh, fisting up with knuckles white. "You three." He ordered the wide eyed Med-nin. "Go attend to those still alive." His voice resounded deeply and it helped that they could see his face. They practically leapt to action.

"Hai!" And the trio scurried off to where the living resided, wherever that may be.

Neji sided up alongside him. "You should not have removed your mask," he murmured as he watched their small Captain depart. "That _Kage _now knows your face. You'll never be able to run from him now, Uchiha." That was why his Captain was beside herself at the moment, along with the nauseating death count, it was not turning into a pleasant day.

"I never run, Hyuuga," he responded evenly, with heavy eyes watching as Kagome disappeared into the mist.

"Hn, it seems she cares a great deal for you." This false pretense of caring for her new recruits was transparent. It was Uchiha Sasuke she was protective over, probably the exact reason why Uchiha Itachi chose _her_ out of all the Captains in ANBU. "Be sure to listen to her next time," he advised smoothly as he trailed after where the Med-nin were headed. "Secure the area, Uchiha. I'll watch over the Medics."

Sasuke slipped his mask over and flickered out of sight.

…

"So…" Sakura peered over Jiraiya's massive white mane, only to see his hand firmly placed on Naruto's belly. The seal's markings swirled like the ink to a mere tattoo, but they were anything but _mere_.

He didn't respond, only furrowed his brows more at the constant prodding Sakura was giving him, Naruto was _out_, as in unconscious_ and _already within the seal and being lured by the Nine-Tails into conversation, while Jiraiya delved into the foundational layers of the seal and tried to resist the dark roil of the fox's chakra.

Going too far would draw him in as well, the core was the place where the fox resided and that was a dark place he _definitely _didn't want to be caught in. Especially when prying into the seal's health. "He's fine," he announced with a sigh. "The seal is degenerating, but not at an accelerated rate."

"Oh." Sakura placed a finger on her lip. "So just same old, same old?"

The world was still ending, just not any faster.

Jiraiya shrugged, his eyes were weary with the same scarlet lines, trailing down his cheeks, slightly darker than she remembered. "Not exactly."

"You don't look so sure…" She placed her hands on her hips. "What's the matter?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan…" Jiraiya scratched his neck with a crooked smile. "Is there anything I should know, specifically?"

"Uh…nope," Sakura shook her head, lips pressed together in a tight line.

"Is there anyone new in Naruto's life?" Jiraiya pried.

"There's _always_ someone new, Jiraiya-sensei," Sakura beamed. Naruto made friends with _everybody, _even his enemies.

Jiraiya laughed nervously. "Ah yes, yes… but I mean more like a_ lady_ friend."

When Sakura blinked with vacant look in her eyes…

"Or _guy_ friend," he muttered dejectedly. "I tried with him… I took him to bathhouses and made him read my books… but if that can't help him… well…" The Sannin simply shrugged. "I can live with that."

"Naruto's not gay, Jiraiya-sensei." Sakura deadpanned.

"Are you _sure_?"

"Now that I think about it…" Sakura cupped her chin in thought. "Sasuke-kun and him _do_ take a really long time in the bathhouses together…"

"Sakura-chan! My virtue!" Jiraiya wailed, cupping his ears.

Sakura smirked. "You have no virtue, you old pervert. Now get to the point."

The Sannin took a breath and rested his hands on his knees. "Well, you see Sakura…" He began seriously. "Naruto is entering a very important stage in his life, one that is being heavily influenced by the demon sealed within."

Sakura nodded slowly. "Okay…what does that mean?"

"It means that someday, Naruto is going to grow up and he is going to have urges and feelings that many young men-"

"Okay! Stop right there!" Sakura held up a hand. "I get it!"

"You do?"

Sakura shook her head furiously, cheeks brightening to the color of her hair. "No, but I don't like where this is going…"

"Ah, well… let's just say that _someday_ has turned into today." Jiraiya crossed his arms. "And in a much more serious manner, the fox is a demon… and demons will react to situations much more _intensely _than humans."

"Ah, so there is a reason for Kyuubi reacting to Kagome-chan!" Sakura proclaimed with a 'Cha!'

"Kagome-chan?" Jiraiya sat back with fingertips rubbing his temples. "So there _is _somebody…"

Sakura rocked on her seat excitedly. "Yep! Doesn't Shishou tell you anything?"

"Apparently not," he grumbled with a hand cupping his chin.

"Well… so what's the reason, Jiraiya-sensei?" Sakura blinked anxiously.

"The Kyuubi's _will_ generally intensifies Naruto's emotions. If Naruto feels even the slightest of attachments, the Kyuubi will react accordingly to Naruto's feelings and due to the fact of his age..."

"What about his _age_?" Sakura asked, feigning interest as she examined her cuticles.

"This is the general time that young boys would start seeking…" _Sex. "…_young ladies." He would get through this, he wouldn't snap and lapse into vulgarity in front of Tsunade's apprentice.

"I don't follow," Sakura drawled.

Jiraiya sighed. _Alright, let's try a more basic approach._ "When a man loves a woman…"

"_Oh!"_ Sakura's epiphany came just in time. "So Naruto likes someone! As in like like…" Sakura froze at the sudden realization of Naruto's sex drive. _"Ew."_

Jiraiya shrugged. "Seems like it, though it doesn't end there for a demon. They go a step further, for what does every animal want to ensure?"

"Clean teeth?"

"No…" He was going to pull out every one of his pretty little white hairs out. "The passing on of their genetic code, a new generation…" He rolled his hand in the air for Sakura to answer.

"Children!" Sakura exclaimed. "Kyuubi wants children!"

"Eh… kind of, the thing with sealed demons is that they are unaware of their actions most of the time. They run usually on pure instinct." The Kyuubi was most likely acting out subconsciously, or it was consciously seeking the girl, which would be… unthinkable, for then it was possible the Kyuubi was showing interest for purposes other than mating.

Sakura stiffened. "Demons are just demons, Jiraiya-sensei. They're not like animals or humans." They were just masses of chakra and hatred that had learned how to talk.

Jiraiya patted Sakura on the head. "You keep on believing whatever you want in that little soft pink head of yours, Sakura-chan."

She ducked out from under with a pout. "Don't tell me, you're actually serious about all this?"

Jiraiya blinked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because that would mean that Naruto wants to have babies with Kagome-chan!" Sakura jolted up, yelling.

"And what's wrong with that?" Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows at her. "Getting _jealous_, Sakura-chan?

"No!" Sakura stomped her foot. "And it's wrong because…"

"Because of what?" Jiraiya had the smug look on his face.

"Because Kagome-chan is a child!" Sakura finally busted.

"Hm…" Jiraiya settled into a dark brood. "That _is_ a problem." Especially if the Kyuubi was targeting her specifically. Maybe the mating theory was completely defunct then? But what else could the Kyuubi want? Most Jinchuuriki _do_ end up either knocked up or _doing_ the knocking in their teens or (if they have self control) their twenties. "Does he have a good lawyer?"

"He hasn't done anything!" Sakura screeched.

"_Yet."_

* * *

**Informational: **In case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, Tsuru(crane), Hebi (snake) and Yamaneko (lynx/wildcat) are their translations. Koneko (kitten) is Kagome's ANBU nickname that they all call her. It's both affectionate and mocking. Kaminari (Lightining) Tsuchi (Earth) Taki (waterfall). The Shelf doesn't exist in cannon, just a geographical feature I made up with the rest cause Kishi-baka is taking his damn time on describing other countries. Kage though DOES exist, not in the anime filler crap sense but the legit manga sense. (go to Naruto . wikia . com if you don't believe me) Obviously Eri, Ayumi and Yuka are IY characters and they will not be the last;) Oh and what Itachi called the landlord (Jinushi-san) is just what it means- landlord, literally. Kikyo Castle is also a real place and is just too relevant for me not not to use, it's the place where Gaara sits and broods with the moon and kills Dosu and Baki kills Hayate in the anime. We'll come back to that later and so, the only OC I have is Yui. Bleh and I don't want her. Seriously, if anyone feels the need to rip me off and use her, by all means go for it…

**Author's Note:** Hm, nothing better than break and entering with Itachi saying he's not wanting Kagome to get knocked up. Don't worry that won't be the last time we broach the subject, there is still the _explaining_ of why he doesn't. (Which if you know his character, you will figure out.) I would also like to point out that it took an extreme amount of self control to _not_ call this chapter 'Makin' Babies' or 'Demons are Horny'. But Penumbra is much more symbolic on the whole plot aspect and blah blah… Plus I like pretty words and Kage means Shadow. The relationship between him and Kagome is an odd one albeit it was shortlived, it has a nice chunck of plot. Anyways I'm off, hopefully everyone enjoyed it:) lotsdilove!~KK

**Chapter Seventeen: **In which Itachi freaks the fuck out. (no really) Tables flip, people scream, tea spills and for good reason, one that might cause the Uchiha heir to finally _snap._ If he hasn't already. Of course, you won't find out until next week, because well, it has to do with Sasuke and Kagome, who are still in Kawa going batshit crazy on each other by the way and Kagome takes it a little too far in a friendly 'spar.' Can anybody say 'Kaze no Kizu' three times real fast? Oh and then there's Naruto who is learning the definition of 'imprinting' but the identity of the _imprintee_ and the _imprinter_ might surprise you… of course this could all be yours within a few short hours if you just get to **1,000 reviews!**

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

1,000 _total_ = **Instantaneous** (none)

45+ = _Wednesday,_ **October 27**(Two weeks)

35+= _Wednesday_, **November 10**(One month)

20+= _Wednesday_, **December 8**(Two months)

10+= _Wednesday_, **January 5**(Three months)

9 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Saturday, October, 16**_

_**The 1,000 review mark represents the total amount for the __**story**__ and __**not **__the chapter. This will be valid for __this chapter __**only **and will be null and void hereafter__**_


	17. Tempest

_**~Memoirs of a Prodigy~**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Pairing: **Naruto/Kagome Itachi/Kagome Sasuke/Kagome (overlapping abound!)

**Side Pairing:** Shisui/Sakura Shikamaru/Temari

* * *

**-Chapter Seventeen-**

Tempest

* * *

_—and we're made of twisted things,_

_little bones and old scabs, tempest reams_

_spider silk and fresh milk, broken blades_

_for claws and fangs._

_We were never warriors._

* * *

"You're brooding…_again_." Shisui thrummed his fingers against his knees as he sat against the wall, watching his cousin stare at _koi._ It was final. Itachi was losing it. One day without Chibi and he was staring at fish.

With a flick of the wrist the little bits of food were cast atop the murky waters, Itachi's dim eyes reflected the scene below, pooling with sifting blurs of color and undulating with soft ripples. The fish fed greedily, flopping on top of one another in soft splashes. "Sasuke forgot to feed them," he said quietly to himself.

"Obviously," Shisui snorted. "That orange one looks like it's about to eat its smaller friend over there." Shisui reclined back into the shade of the balcony lining the inner courtyard of the manor. Every bedroom had a door to the gardens and koi, though it was hardly used, it was a perfect place to step into when wanting a few short moments of privacy.

"Don't you have duties to fulfill," Itachi's back was still to him and he spoke evenly. "Shisui?"

Shisui was still very much a Captain in ANBU, however new, he was in charge of Communications.

Shisui shrugged. "My summons do all the work for me, I just stop by every once in awhile." The thing with Communications is that as long as he kept things running smoothly (by keeping within_ communication_), he wouldn't have to take a step outside the village. It was a pretty snug job. Especially when you had talking eagles that could fly thrice the distance any measly hawk could. "Why? Tired of me already or are you wishing Chibi was here?" Probably _both._

Itachi's neck inclined in his direction, with the crescent of a cheek and an onyx orbs pooling with something akin to annoyance, Itachi spoke sharply. "I do not relish in this inactivity, Shisui… it makes one _restless_."

In other words, Itachi was _annoyed._ Annoyed that he was bound to this village while his platoon recovered and his brother and Kagome were out on a mission.

"You could always apply for solo status again." Shisui suggested. It had happened a few times for one reason or another, when Itachi would recoil from even the desolate companionship of ANBU and take time to think clearly and not be bound by other's limitations.

Itachi ran a hand through his bangs languidly. "Funeral preparations for my teammates must be acted upon accordingly. To leave before then… would be deemed inappropriate."

"Aa." Shisui nodded. "That'd be pretty fucked up to cop out of a funeral for the teammates who died protecting you."

Itachi's eyes were blots of night in the deepening afternoon sunlight, but he nodded nonetheless.

"You don't seem all that affected," Shisui pried tenderly. It was always like this, Itachi had lost too much of everything to be affected anymore, if he was, he should have broken a long time ago. "Try to show _some_ remorse when the mothers talk to you at the memorial." Shisui suggested lightly, knowing parents always somehow managed to commend Itachi's efforts of _trying_ to save their son or daughter. After all, he was the Uchiha prodigy, if he couldn't even save them. Then, no one could have.

"I know what is expected of me, Shisui." Itachi turned his back on his cousin, letting the sun engulf his face as the soft_ taps_ of the bamboo fountain resonated out and through.

Shisui said nothing, just blew at his spiky bangs hanging in front of his face irritably as he _counted._

Fourteen _taps_ later, Itachi spoke with onyx eyes swarming. "The Hyuuga will request a dinner with her." His voice was calm, too still to be natural. Even for him.

"So they're making the first move, ne?" Shisui smirked with a shaking head. "I knew this was going to get ugly as soon as Nara Shikaku brought up the promotion." Every Captain was within their rights to choose one of their own to promote to Captain, either it was for replacement or skill varied between each. After all, it took Itachi _years_ to promote him, when he could have been heading up three platoons when he was barely sixteen. "Now what is your father going to do? Invite her over on same day?"

Itachi said nothing.

"How did you know about Hyuuga?"

A light imperceptible gesture lifted his jutting shoulder blades into a thin shrug. "The Hyuuga can be… very predictable." His eyes were guarded as was his voice, in that soft velvet rasp that was perfectly audible but barely a whisper.

"Hm, so you think things will get out of control? Or will this be nothing but healthy rivalry?" Shisui sneered at the last part, when the Hyuuga and Uchiha compete, it got complicated, especially for those in the middle.

And the fact that those in the middle were Sasuke and Kagome…

It made Itachi restless, especially when they were both out of country and doing Kami only knows what. Itachi nodded suddenly. "Yes, I believe this will."

"What, spiral out of control?"

Itachi said nothing, being one not to repeat himself.

Shisui yawned, feeling as if a afternoon nap was in order. "Well… we'll just watch out and make sure they don't start marrying her off." He said nonchalantly, knowing it would be stopped long before any of that happened. Shisui lay on his side, arm propped and a hand cupping his cheek as his elbow remained planted solidly into the wood. "I have a feeling, Chibs and your brat of a brother are going to be late." He declared suddenly. "Aren't they supposed to be back, by like today?"

"This evening." Itachi listened to the wind sough through the gardens, rustling a spindly maple's ruddy leaves.

To run a distance equivalent to that of Fire country in little over than twenty four hours was enough to tire even the most hardened of shinobi.

"That's pushing it." Shisui pointed out with heavy eyes. "You sure it was a good idea to send her on a mission so early? I mean, it seemed like that healing she did on you took quite the toll on her."

Again Itachi remained captivated in the stillness, standing between shadows and staring at a slightly cupped palm. "I will depart in the morning." Itachi finally concluded, deathly calm on the surface.

"Oh no, no, no… You're not going to run off every time you think they're in the slightest bit of danger." Shisui shook his head furiously, his spiky nape flaring with every movement. "They're in ANBU for Kami's sake; don't get all edgy because they're probably a few hours behind schedule." Itachi was just itching to get out of the village, he was a predator through and through, you couldn't keep him caged for too long lest he claw out his own eyes. "Don't worry; _brat _will make sure she doesn't push herself." That would probably explain the delay… or rather the future delay, Shisui just knew these things. "I could always send an eagle after them." Shisui suggested suddenly, anything to relieve that awful strip of tension lining his cousin's shoulders.

Itachi turned suddenly, with eyes gaping and open for the world to see. Tumultuous currents sifted darkly in those dark depths, ones that even Shisui couldn't bare looking at for long. "That would be advisable…" He murmured crisply. After all, he could send a murder of crows out and even then, it might not reach them in time to yield anything useful. Shisui's summons were a powerful thing when it came to distances.

His ravens were never meant for communication anyway.

Shisui nodded. "I'll send one out. Tsubasa is in Suna running some interdependent trade circuit but Kin is just pecking at me to get out and do something."

Itachi always preferred the female of the pair, for Tsubasa was always reliable and her speech capabilities were superior to that of her mate's. Kin was younger, albeit extremely large for his species, save for the giant birds Shisui used for transportation, he was _flighty_ and not as level headed as his mate.

He'd nearly killed one of his own summonses, a few years back when conflicting messages arouse. It was a common messenger crow, but nonetheless it was a blatant disregard of who he was. Ever since, Shisui had requested Itachi keep his crows separate from his eagles. After all, Kin was lucky it wasn't Tengu he had attacked and Shisui knew this.

The bird would be nothing but lumps of meat and feathers if he had.

"Keep him reined in, Shisui," Itachi instructed tersely. He didn't want to deal with Shisui when Kagome came back with a dead eagle because it got _snappy._

"Yeah, yeah…I know. Ever since that contract had been passed down to me, those damned birds have been acting out." Shisui eyes dipped, only lids were to be seen. "Kin will be able to find them within a few hours and then_ poof_ right back to me." Shisui smirked. "Wonder if he'll fly into something a bit embarrassing though…"

"What are you implying, Shisui?" Itachi's eyes flitted to glance at his cousin sharply.

Shisui hummed, eyes gleaming. "Oh nothing. Just pointing out that Chibs and Gaki have been getting quite close."

Itachi blinked with his brow rising and knitting ever so slightly. "There is nothing I object to."

"Really? You don't care that your brother might be snatching up your wife."

"Shisui." Itachi's voice grated harshly, suddenly.

"Right, right… won't call her that anymore." Shisui rolled his eyes but then paled at a stark revelation. "Wait. You wouldn't… you wouldn't dare…"

Itachi closed his eyes with his profile bowing into the sun.

Shisui gaped. "You wouldn't just give up like that. Just cause your brat brother might want her?" His voice was rough and scratchy, no longer that deep baritone that bellowed. "Itachi!" He shouted at the lack of response.

It was then he turned, with eyes laced with a sadness that he always carried, like the gnarled root of rage, deep down Uchiha Itachi had a gaping, seeping wound that bled out and screamed.

"I never wanted anything, Shisui."

…

"He's still not conscious?" Tsunade crossed her arms over her ample bosom.

"Huh… that is a little concerning…" Jiraiya scratched his head.

Sakura was fidgeting off to side, biting her nails as she sat and waited dutifully for her Shishou to dissect the situation. "Is that bad?" She treaded carefully with her words.

Jiraiya's face fell into that serious expression that always meant he was about to bring dark news. "It means that the fox has a strong hold on him at the moment… don't worry he'll break out of it." He seemed to reassure himself.

Sakura nodded, eyes resolute and her inner voice cheering Naruto on. There was a dark air clinging to the hospital room, maybe it was how Naruto's seal was fading ever so slightly or the fact that his gaping mouth was starting to show his incisors protrude steadily.

Tsunade's amber eyes narrowed. "So it's true then, the Kyuubi is more active?"

Jiraiya nodded wearily. "And from what you have both told me before, it might also mean he's imprinting on the girl you mentioned."

"If that is the case then we must observe Kagome's reactions to Naruto very closely." Tsunade impressed upon them.

Sakura raised a hand as if she were a student to a lecture. "Why Kagome? Naruto is the one with a horny fox inside of him."

Both Sannin turned and faced the pink haired medic. Tsunade responded rigidly. "It is not only because that Kyuubi has the influence and manipulating skills beyond what is comprehendible but just as the demon is affected by Kagome, we should assume vice versa." If one little girl can garner such a reaction than one big bad demon was capable of doing the same.

Jiraiya raised a finger before jutting in. "It is also the concern of the girl's age, Sakura-chan." His tone was jovial. "She is quite impressionable and is at the risk of imprinting on the fox herself."

Sakura gaped. "But you just said that Kyuubi…"

Tsunade shook her head. "The fact that the fox is acting this way means that sometime earlier in its life…" Or existence, they honestly knew so little about Bijuu, whether they were born or always were, was completely unknown. "It composed an image of its potential mate." It was common psychology, every animal imprinted on something to base its life around, the fact that it was choosing Kagome meant that the fox had had earlier experiences with whatever the girl was turning out to be. "This is a precious chance to gain some perspective on the origin of the Bijuu."

"But we don't even know _what _Kagome is yet!" Sakura exclaimed. It was too risky to start playing around with the fox and Kagome's reactions to each other. "And how do you even know that the Kyuubi is affecting her?" Kagome wasn't going out and killing people.

"It's been subtle, but her recent outbreak nearly blinded Uchiha Itachi…" Tsunade informed Jiraiya consequently answering Sakura's question. "After that incident, I was convinced that the demon was affecting her as well." This was no one-sided effect as she had hoped.

Jiraiya rubbed his chin in thought with brows furrowing. "That is concerning. Has she been prone to these violent outburst before?"

Sakura eyes widened. "She didn't mean to!" She gasped, rocketing out of her chair. "Shisui told me she was… just angry."

"Did he mention anything else?" Tsunade pressed.

Sakura paused, her mind slamming with Shisui's words. _It was like a flux of some energy, it went right through the air… and into…_ "His eyes." She whispered.

"What?" Tsunade clipped impatiently.

"His eyes, he nearly went blind because her energy… was unstable." She looked up, jade eyes riveted to Naruto's revealed seal. "She was mad. It's triggered by her emotions but her energy was unstable."

"Energy? What kind of energy?" Tsunade's eyes were chary and her pink lips pursed.

Sakura shrugged weakly. "I don't know, Shishou… Shisui felt it."

"I think the real question is, which is the Kyuubi affecting? Her emotions or her… _energy_?" Tsunade's gaze smoldered into a solemn reverie.

"Both." Jiraiya supplemented after a short moment. "But only one is intentional, the other is simply out of consequence." Whether the Kyuubi was drawing out her emotions causing the influx or vice versa was the core of it all. They needed to deduce what it was the Kyuubi was targeting, so that they could reverse it.

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jiraiya, how long will you be staying?"

He gave the Godaime a wry smile. "As long as you like."

But Tsunade was all business. "Good. Now there will be no further delay no matter what anyone says…" Itachi, Shikaku, Naruto… "When Kagome returns we will commence the memory extraction along with chakra and energy analysis on both Kagome and Naruto simultaneously."

"Shishou, you can't! We know so little, we can't just…" Toy around with them until Naruto goes on a rampage or Kagome hurts someone by accident _again._

"Sakura it is final."Tsunade's voice sent Sakura back with a _squeak._

"Wait for Yamato-taicho." Sakura insisted weakly. "This way, if Naruto… _loses_ it. He'll be able to stop it."

Tsunade grimaced. Another delay.

"She is right, Tsunade. This urgency will only lead to disaster if we do not treat this delicately."

"Fine." Tsunade bit out. "But we will go forward with the memory extraction." Inoichi would be summoned easily enough along with Ibiki overseeing it, the process would be quick and painless.

"But Shishou…" Sakura reached out with watery jade eyes. "You promised, you promised she would be the priority… not the knowledge inside of her." Her Shishou had reassured her every step of the way for the past few days as she poured over books, over histories and scrolls. All that research was so that Kagome would be safe. Even from her own country.

"She is, Sakura." Tsunade's voice became raspy and low. "But this is becoming too volatile a situation to contain any longer, we must act before she lashes out once more." Kagome needed to learn how to control her dormant powers.

"She's not some demon!" Sakura yelled, her fists curling up with enough force to shatter steel.

Tsunade immediately placated at that accusation, but not in the usual way one rescinds from an argument but rather a deep tread threaded itself through Sakura as her Shishou stared back.

"No, Sakura… she could be worse."

…

_Because you're driven by two things Uchiha Sasuke, rivalry and power._

_So don't tell me to open up myself up and bear my soul to someone who can't even begin to understand and has no intention to._

…

What was worse was that she was right.

So dead on about everything about him that it scared him.

But he was _trying._

Trying to grasp what it was like to have no clan, no family, no brother…

Trying to understand was terrifying because it surfaced all those aching emotions that fit too perfectly in his chest and were too easily ripped out.

But Sasuke found the brooding prodigy quickly enough. An hour spent in scouting out the valley meant that he knew exactly where she _wasn't._

Kagome was up in the gnarled limbs of some old oak at the bend of a river atop a grassy knoll; with her mask tossed to its roots and its leaves rustling with the soft gusts, she was cradled with one willowy leg draping.

Kagome's eyes slipped open and slid to meet his steady steps. Her gaze was barely a glisten in the corner of her lids. Her glossy hair was the same inky black halo that always curled at the nape of her neck, a paradox to her ashen complexion. "What?" She drawled in the most annoyed tone he had yet to hear. She stretched like a cat with a yawn before lacing her fingers behind her neck and garnering him with a blank stare.

Sasuke's fingers brushed cool porcelain and in one movement, he slid his mask off and let it clatter to the ground. "He already knew my identity." He spoke in a cool tone.

Kagome's eyes flicked over to him. "No. He didn't. Your face was what he was after. For all he knew, you were just Itachi's brother and perfectly self absorbed." She huffed, lips pouty and lashes fanning out as they fluttered rapidly. "Now he will target you," she murmured in between breaths.

'_Targeting'_ within ranks was highly forbidden and looked down upon. Hazing was the watered down version, for not every new recruit went through it but just as hazing regularly followed after targeting, it most definitely always brought bodily injury.

However, to Uchiha Sasuke, it was nothing more than glorified bullying.

And it was all because he made a single step. One wrong step, literally, and it meant he had personally challenged the Captain.

"_Why…?"Kage's suave expression faltered suddenly, his confidence softened for but a moment when he stared into her ashen features. _

_It was when Sasuke took a step forward that the ANBU Captain was struck out of his reverie. _

And yet, Kagome could split a boulder and he didn't bat an eyelash.

"He has a personal vendetta with Itachi," Kagome sufficed suddenly. Then again, who didn't? The entire ANBU was divided into two groups. The supporters and dissenters."But he never… showed such arrogance." She whispered harshly, eyes still cast off on the mountains in the distance. Purplish and crisp peaks, settled in the still receding fog.

Sasuke remained calm. The wind was soughing through and over the grasses like invisible waves. "You've never mentioned this before." Oh, she called him many things but there was never such a seriousness to her.

"I have," she reminded. "—lightly. However, you have no idea what your actions have implicated." Sasuke revealed his face too quickly, with barely any acknowledgement to the Captain was also another violation on conduct. Added to the fact that he fully intended to fight Kage was enough to warrant a suspension. "You have no concept of how much higher in rank he is."

"He was threatening you." Sasuke's voice permeated the air heatedly.

"And that was between us alone!" She finally snapped. That rigid, apathetic wall crumbled to anger. The gap between Captain and subordinate was a gulf. Sasuke had no idea what he was challenging and he had no concept of what Kage and her relationship was. "We're Captains! It has nothing to with you and if we fight than it is between equals!" But if it was between Sasuke and Kage, Sasuke would be at fault, especially since it could be considered treason if he willing attacked a Commanding officer. Her eyes widened at that sudden realization. _"Sasuke…"_ She turned to him, sat up and with feet hanging. "Please, promise you'll never engage with Kage ever again."

Because in some strong compelling way she was responsible for him.

Kagome tilted her head at the young spoiled teenager that Uchiha Itachi cherished most and had entrusted her with. Dark and somber, he stood with a mask stubbornly cast to his feet when she had specifically said _not_ to remove it.

He reminded her of a child at times.

Sasuke saw that she was staring off, right at him and giving him a faraway look that reminded him of Itachi."I promise nothing." He cut off whatever daydream she was having.

Kagome's brow knitted as her murky eyes sharpened right at him. _"Ugh…!"_ And the branch adjacent to her was sliced cleanly off. "Uchiha Sasuke, you never listen!" She shouted and slammed a fist into the trunk, causing a hole to puncture through and a wooden chunk to fly right at Sasuke's head.

"Kagome." He dodged. Naturally.

"You are the most frustrating—!" She repeatedly let her chakra reign freely, making her Wind element slice away at the wood with every hit.

Another branch fell with a hissing _whoosh._

"...irresponsible, selfish, arrogant…"

"Kagome." The old tree moaned as the small girl vented out her frustrations, inevitably shredding the tree to bits and splinters.

"…stubborn, freak-eared-"

What was wrong with his ears? "Kagome."

The air stilled suddenly. "Stop saying my name!" And with one swiped kick, the tree gave, felling to the temper tantrum of one little girl. Kagome flipped out of the tangle of leaves and boughs.

Sasuke was barely able to block her short sword with his armguard. "Kagome." What was wrong with her?

The metal screeched on his armor, with sparks eliciting a sharp hiss. "Kagome." He gritted out with dark eyes pinning her.

Her face knitted more into frustration. "Shut up!" And she pushed off, both stumbling to regain their balance as Kagome flipped and Sasuke back-stepped to unsheathe his own sword.

As soon as his fingertips grazed the hilt, Kagome stilled, crouched and with chakra already humming within her wakizashi she blinked hesitantly. Reason seemed to be threading back into her frayed nerves, and the shadow was gone. They were just wide, pale eyes.

Kagome threw her sword to the earth, it hit a rock with a sickening whine. She stomped past him with her head down and bangs already shutting him out from her eyes.

"Where are you—"

"Sasuke." She held up a hand. "Just _sit_." Her voice wavered.

"Kagome." Why did she look like she was about to cry?

She physically winced. "I just need to think." And she kept on walking, leaving everything.

"What?" He clipped, his footfalls audible and strong as he trailed after slightly.

Kagome's whole form fell. She breathed heavily. "Sasuke…" _I just need to think._ "Sit." It was all she could get out. Because that's all she wanted him to do, for once, just listen to her.

But Sasuke was already walking.

And Kagome was already gone.

…

Someone had been in his room.

He registered this as the slight disturbance of dust was splayed before him. His bookshelves contained a mass of information that had belonged primarily to the Uchiha archives deep within the Nakano shrine, _hidden_.

Being the Clan heir, he had access to these archives at any given time and was also allowed to take any number of scrolls, parchments, vellums, books… for his own personal collection. Which encompassed the entire wall of his room at the moment; it was relatively small compared to the source but was vast in his room.

Itachi let his fingertips glide over the clumps of dusty scrolls, the frayed edges of paper, the tattered leathers of bindings and the faded inkblots. It was something Sasuke had never copied him in, to explore and collect the last vestiges of their history.

It was also a reason Itachi was thankful for his Sasuke's stubbornness on studying informational texts that yielded no new techniques. History, to Sasuke, was useless unless it divulged some secret or forbidden Jutsu.

Thus, ignorance was bliss and would keep Sasuke alive.

Itachi eyes dipped to the wooden floor, where the sunlight pooled with a fallen book.

Obviously dropped carelessly, Itachi crouched and lifted the thin binding to reveal blotched paper and nearly illegible hiragana.

'_My palm has become fractured and splitting, no longer do I feel the silence, it is spreading as is the pain. In the sky, the stars rumble and the night whispers, for I feel the spider's weaving and I fear that the moon is breaking—'_

"What are you staring at?" Shisui drawled from his bed.

Itachi didn't respond. His cousin had that annoying habit of trailing after him for hours on end.

Shisui eyes flicked over to Itachi, he didn't really feel like getting up nor did he wish to be ignored so he did what anyone would do.

Uchiha Shisui threw a pillow at his stoic younger cousin.

"Oi!"

And Itachi didn't budge when it flopped against the back of his head.

"What is that?" Shisui hung his head upside down from the futon he was sprawling on, with dark spiky hair pooling to the floor.

In between his middle and index dangled a slim book, held open by its cover with its yellowed pages flaring. "Shisui." Itachi stood in a sinuous motion. "Have you read this?"

Shisui blinked, feeling his heartbeat puddle in his ears. "Well, first of all… it's blank and no, I haven't been in your room."

The book shut with a_ snap_ as his eyes lingered on the ancient kanji title that no one could read.

"Can _you_ read it?"

Itachi nodded slightly. "With the Sharingan, yes."

Shisui scratched his neck as he sat right side up. "Kind of like that old tablet in the shrine?"

Itachi nodded once more. "I believe Higurashi-san is able to read this as well." He placed it back on the shelf, in between the other scrolls and tomes.

Shisui's brows shot up. "Now _that_ is interesting."

"Aa."

"Maybe we should take her to-"

But Shisui was cut off when suddenly Itachi's door opened with a thud, as it collided with the adjacent wall. "Itachi." Uchiha Mikoto loomed in the doorframe with a scowl and a laundry basket balanced on her hip. "Where's your brother?"

"Sasuke is still on a mission." He replied fluidly as his eyes flicked over to his mother.

"Well, that is convenient because he is so behind on laundry, I can't even open his door."

Shisui wrinkled his nose. "Ew."

Itachi sent a deadpanned look. "That is disgusting, Okaa-san." How was this, his problem?

"Yes, it is. And since your father is expecting guests soon, can you please be the better son and do it for him?" Mikoto sighed.

Itachi tilted his head. "Guests?"

"Yes." Mikoto replied crisply. "You're off the roster, Itachi. I know you have free time at the moment."

"Aa." But that didn't mean he was going to sort Sasuke's colors into darks and lights.

"So, uh…is he going to be punished?" Shisui pried. "Do you like… ground him?" Because he honestly had no fucking clue how parents dealt with shinobi children. It wasn't like you could actually time them out. If they threw a tantrum then you died…

"Shisui." Mikoto rolled her eyes. "I'm tired. I need to get this house cleaned and someone is finally not busy to help." She sent a look over to her eldest. "Itachi, deal with it and when Sasuke comes back you can make him owe you a favor."

Itachi nodded. "Is there anything else, my otouto neglected?"

"He forgot to feed the koi!" Shisui added with nod. "What? Not my fault he's a slacker."

Mikoto raised a brow. "No, one favor out of him, Itachi. No more. Sasuke will have enough to deal with when he returns."

Shisui straightened at that. "So you_ are_ planning something with him and Chibs." His relatives were so easy to read, it was probably something to counter the Hyuuga's future invitation.

"Shisui." Mikoto shook her head. "Can't you just _leave_?"

The body flicker specialist pursed his lips. "If I am coerced. Then maybe, why?"

Uchiha Mikoto thrummed her fingertips on the rim of the basket. "Jiraiya-sama is back." She tried lightly.

Shunshin no Shisui was already gone.

"Itachi, why is it that every time Shisui comes here he always frequents your bed?" Mikoto's brow furrowed. Her nephew was strange, he hung off her son like a teenage girl to her new _beau_.

Itachi shrugged lightly.

"And then he can only be pried away when Jiraiya-sama is near."

"It is most likely to gather pornography, Okaa-san." Itachi replied.

"Hm, well don't tell your father."

"Aa."

…

When Kagome wanted to think, the common denominator tended to be trees.

So after spending the better half of the hour, scouring the fringes of the forest that ebbed at the piteous muddy clearing; Uchiha Sasuke soon followed the trails of splinters.

And most times those trees tended to be annihilated.

Sasuke plucked past the path of disemboweled foliage and splintered bamboo until he picked up the distinct hiss of wind passing through, most unnaturally. The shadows of the forest were deep and green, filtering through the bamboo and clinging to the very last vestiges of mist.

And then, there was Kagome, standing in between a gnarled limb and a stalk of bamboo with her head thrown back and eyes upward. The sun flittered about, trickling past the canopy and blotching her pale skin. She blinked and didn't open.

"You're a fool." He drawled, with his chokutō already drawn and grazing a nearby stalk with a slice, metal on wood.

She didn't respond, but those pale tapered hands of hers twitched slightly at the sound of his blade. She had abandoned hers.

"If you're going to react on impulse…" He trailed deeply. "Then follow through." And instantaneously the stalk toppled over and landed with hushed crash beside the prodigy.

Her eyes flashed open and those murky depths clouded with storms. "I had no right to attack you. Just as you had no right to instigate anything between Kage," she jutted in sharply.

And just like that, she had entangled them back into their old argument.

Kagome's eyes suddenly dipped to the moist earth, with the toe of her boot scuffing up moss, she sighed. "I haven't… been feeling right, lately."

"Because of the healing?" He supplemented fluidly, he stance slacking slightly.

She shrugged limply. "Maybe, but…" Her eyes suddenly latched onto his own, anomalous and glistening in the blemished sunlight. "I've never felt…so angry before." There was heat on her tongue.

Sasuke said nothing, only let his heavy gaze lay on her as she tried to repress a baseless anger.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." She whispered, hands curling and knuckles white. "I should have-"

"Don't." His baritone rumbled throughout. He twirled his sword and with a deft swing, it was pointing directly at her, gleaming in the sunlight. "Just act."

Because he was sick of her melodramatics and her brooding and that apathetic façade that didn't suit her face. He was sick of it all.

If she was angry, he would seize this chance to force her to follow through and see it to end.

He didn't want her to be like Itachi.

But it was too easy to goad her, that heat that boiled underneath her eyes and settled in her chest like hot iron, came to life quickly.

Kagome smirked, feeling anticipation bristle in the air and the thrill of the fight threading through her limbs. "I have no weapon." She stated as she sidestepped into a crouch. Even without her mask, she reminded him of a cat.

"You don't need one." And with a screech, his blade sparked to life with Lightning. The blue-white light was blinding and seemingly out of control as it licked at the steel like flames and bit out with a vengeance.

"Hn." And with a flick of the wrist, a torrent of sharp Wind chakra roared at him, unseen.

She was gone in the next instant.

Sasuke dodged and watched as meters of bamboo were sliced and toppled over like dominos. The effect was a great whoosh followed by the piercing cracks of splitting wood.

Metal sung and Sasuke released his channeled Chidori.

It fizzled in the air as another unseen wave was sent his way, Wind canceled out Lightning and was aimed right to his throat.

Sasuke leaped.

But Kagome was already in the air, above him. With arms curved like diving wings she dipped in the currents of wind before sending yet another onslaught of blades.

Sasuke arched and flipped back down, his feet colliding into the moss with harsh thuds. Sliced bamboo fell too cleanly, almost levitating in the air momentarily, before toppling.

As Kagome remained eerily aloft in the upper reaches of the canopy, Sasuke bolted across and dodged each and every Wind blade she had sent out after him.

As soon, as one clipped his shoulder, they ceased.

Kagome loomed, balancing on a bent stalk that creaked under her slight weight. She leaned over with eyes glued to the torn fabric and exposed flesh. Fresh and seeping, it was a clean cut and bled freely. Sasuke's freehand barely glanced it and yet his fingertips glistened and dripped scarlet.

"Hn." He leveled her with a heavy stare. She was going easy on him. Too easy. He should have been dead by now if she was actually aiming correctly.

He would have to get more serious.

Without even the slightest of hand-signs, he released a wordless Katon from his lips.

Impulse took over and Kagome twirled with the slightest of tremors leaving her fingertips. Wind made Fire stronger and the Goryuuka no Jutsu was already a nasty bit without the help.

The dragon gaped and roared with a plume smoke in its wake.

The heat was blistering and Sasuke had sent it straight at her with little hesitation. The dragon's maws were blinding in an orange-red that burned even at the great distance she putting between herself and it.

In the last moment before it completely enveloped her, she saw Sasuke nonchalantly standing with a sword in one hand and a half-tiger-seal in the other.

He was really trying to draw her out. This would kill her if she didn't react.

Kagome crouched mid-air and waited. The flames came scathingly close, enough for her to feel the white-hot heat lick at her skin. Even her heat resistant ANBU suit couldn't help her.

And so Kagome buried her fist into the dragon's inferno of a mouth and gripped the core with swirling Wind chakra that the Fire Element fed off of and thus gave her, primitive control. But it was draining fast, for if she didn't feed this Jutsu a sufficient amount of Wind chakra it would consume her in the next instant.

Sasuke's eyes widened when Kagome plunged her hand into his Goryuuka's mouth and then proceeded to dive into it. His one handed tiger seal, which was controlling the Jutsu, slacked completely. "Fuck." He bit out and leapt in after her. He sacrificed control for efficiency, the moment he didn't form the sequence of hand signs and utter the Jutsu's name.

And now, Kagome was exploiting it. Despite the dangers, as an out of control technique was the foremost nightmare for any shinobi, the wispy child dove straight into the flames like an inky blot on the sun.

The Jutsu was carrying high, gaining strength and momentum with every beat of his heart.

Which meant that Kagome was feeding it, controlling it, despite her definite lack of sense at the moment, her chakra was not compatible with Fire, she was made of smoother, lighter other things. Things that when calm, were tremblingly beautiful, cool and clear one moment and then vengeful and tearing the next. A vacant sky, a placid mere, a screaming tempest, a thrashing ocean…

Images passed, through his mind.

No, no, no…

He couldn't control it. He felt it, slipping past, the last tethers of chakra from the Jutsu dripping away from his senses.

He was made of uncontrollable, violent things. Things that never forgave, that never abated. Fire always burned and Lightning always tore.

The engorged Katon roared and blocked out the sun momentarily in a scorched eclipse before soaring even higher.

And with one final burst, Kagome gripped the core and threw it up and over her with Wind chakra swirling around her and feeding the Fire rather than consuming her.

The Goryuuka no Jutsu flew up with a roar and Kagome felt the icy relief of air. She took a greedy breath, one that wouldn't scorch her lungs and dove back to the ground, landing in a crouch.

But Sasuke landed, with his Sharingan gleaming scarlet and a slacked expression that meant he couldn't believe she just shrugged that off in a few short moments.

"Hn." She smirked, ignoring how she felt nothing from the elbow down on her right arm. Everything else was lightly burned, she could already feel the dead skin peeling and blistering.

And then, something flashed across Sasuke's eyes, something dark and deep and aching. It was a hunger, the first breaths of a predator who was all but too eager to engage this small little thing into the next round of their spar.

Sasuke stalked around her, slowly, barely a quart of a circle, silently. His weapon clipped the earth languidly, with fingers slacking as if the blade were nothing but a superfluous addition.

Kagome quivered in a short audible breath as she gradually experimented with her elbow joint. She felt skin split.

But Sasuke's eyes were on her, she bit the inside of her cheek, gnashed on it, as she bent her arm fully to her, cradling it by her ribs. A sharp clink with Sasuke's blade on stone caught her attention.

She bit down hard. Blood flushed her mouth.

Her teeth had always been viciously sharp.

Sasuke stilled, his eyes bearing into her. Those vermillion orbs flicked up to the now roiling sky.

Kagome flinched at the sudden crack of lightning in the freshly brewed storm clouds. The great columns formed a dome like cathedral overhead, so massive she felt as if she were a mouse before a mountain. Apparently she had just made his job easier, that Katon she had fed and thus controlled momentarily into the sky, had just brought about an enormous updraft causing the sudden shift in thermals.

Kagome nonchalantly tilted her head to the sky. Apparently she would have to get more serious. "Impressive." She drawled as the first droplets began to splatter on the muggy landscape. The water stung her singed neck and forearm momentarily, but the relief was cool sweet bliss after.

A few drips, turned into a downpour and soon it was torrential to the point of visibility being compromised. Swift pelting torrents began to wail on her wilting frame as she couldn't stem the shiver running through her. Sasuke was an amorphous figure sifting through and back, but her eyes were sharp and he was easy to track.

Kagome saw his eyes clearly enough, gleaming with adrenaline and tomoe swimming in carmine, she could see those twin pools staring back at her.

The song of metal hit her ears as Sasuke shifted and stabbed the earth suddenly.

It happened in a matter of seconds.

A flash, and then the world erupted in a series of flashes and hissing sparks. Lightning was elicited and carried through every wet surface. It flushed over the earth in hissing waves, and slicing over the small but constant puddles.

Kagome leapt at the very first signs but it still wasn't fast enough to save her legs, she felt that skin-crawling vibration that wracked her nervous system. Electrocution. The appendages hung limply in the air as she sung through and streamlined up, riding the last chakra-laced jump up to the lower reaches of clouds.

Her skin prickled at the static in the air, she tried to angle her legs for her final dive down, but the damage was done. They wouldn't move, her legs only followed after her as she used gravity for momentum. Paralysis. They would be useless now.

The world was alight, blindingly blue-white with sparks and tendrils of jagged flashes lashing out and consuming the earth.

And one boy lay at the center, dark in his ocean of fire and ice-light and commanding it.

Wind ruled over Lightning and with little choice to counter such a large scale attack, Kagome reacted purely on instinct.

With Wind tearing from her small hands, she let words tear from her lips.

"Kaze no Kizu!"

And the world exploded beneath Sasuke's feet.

…

"Itachi." Fugaku greeted evenly as his son entered the dining room. He set down the suspect file he was previously looking over. "Sit." He gestured across the low table.

The manor was dark even at this time of day, with only sunlight prying in with desperate tethers, the hallways and deeper recesses of the residence lay untouched.

Itachi sat sinuously, with long fingers already pouring the tea from the cast iron pot.

"Is Shisui gone?" Fugaku inquired evenly with arms crossed and eyes boring into his son's preoccupied gaze.

Itachi brought the small cup to his lips. "Aa." He blew slightly on the amber liquid.

"Good. Then we can discuss a few matters."

Itachi didn't respond, only silently sipped his tea.

"You do realize the circumstances the Hyuuga will press upon Higurashi Kagome?" Fugaku poured himself his a fresh cup.

"Will we not do the same?" Itachi replied as he set down the cup audibly.

Fugaku deflected the accusation. "Sasuke is becoming quite amicable with her."

"Aa." Itachi responded, dark eyes now set straight onto his father.

"Then, it is reasonably safe to assume that Sasuke will attain a promotion within a few years time?" Fugaku momentarily examined the painted pattern on the cup, the swift strokes of pale green for bamboo leaves and stalks. The contrast of the deep red scales of a koi as it swam across, leaving droplets in its wake.

It always reminded him of blood.

"If he performs well." Itachi blinked languidly before settling into a hooded expression.

Fugaku nodded satisfied. "That is not the only reason, I have broached this subject."

Itachi stilled, with eyes pooling with something dark.

"Your future is secured, Itachi. With your betrothal to Yui and my retirement encroaching, the time for you to success me is near." Fugaku spoke resolutely, swiftly before his son would counter. "Sasuke on the other hand is not as… driven as you are. He has aspirations, Itachi but they lead nowhere. Becoming a Captain of ANBU will only secure an early death."

A heavy breath passed over Itachi's lips. "Sasuke… is driven by your own aspirations that you set for me, when I was a child. He is stronger than you think, Chichi-ue."

"Aa, that may be but he needs to contribute more to the Clan than a mere promotion."

"And how, have I, in anyway not done the same?" Itachi mused bleakly. Was he not the one who was praised beyond reprieve for a 'mere promotion' at the age of thirteen? "Sasuke is following the path that he believes is set for him."

"As he should." Fugaku nodded. "However, he needs to start focusing on continuing his successes just as you are."

Itachi raised a brow. This was bold, even for his father.

"Yui is a suitable match and will secure the purity of our bloodline. Sasuke however lacks the proper… genetics that you were so blessed with."

Itachi's eyes sharpened. "I believe that Sasuke and I share the same parentage, Chichi-ue."

Fugaku sighed. "Itachi… Sasuke is lacking. You need to understand that we must compensate for his shortcomings."

"What are you saying?" Itachi inquired sharply. His father was always one to be unsatisfied, so when Sasuke had finally secured success, he had found another avenue in which he was lacking.

"You already know what I am suggesting, Itachi." Fugaku leveled him with a stare. "A marriage between your brother and Higurashi Kagome would make up for her lack of heritage and his lack intellect and skill."

"Chichi-ue, do not test me..." His words were deathly calm but his eyes were trembling in the dusk-light. "I am a man, of little patience. If you degrade my brother once more…" The threat hung in the air. Itachi shrugged lightly."Then, I will be forced to renounce this Clan."

Fugaku paused, his mouth slacked into a gape as he let his eldest's words settle in. "You're not a man, Itachi." He chuckled. "You have coddled your brother into this, if you are unhappy with your arrangements here then you may leave and Sasuke will fill-"

The three hundred pound oak table flipped as if it weighed nothing. The table split, cracked as the tableware shattered and the scalding hot tea seeped into Fugaku's scattered work papers.

Fugaku was already standing, Itachi stood as well, with that placid and absolutely catatonic stare he gave when he holding back a rage that was so dark and twisted, it could kill. It was all Itachi could ever do to cease his hand for going for his father's throat.

Itachi left.

Consciously, he was gone, beyond so.

And Fugaku lurched forward, with a fist curled so tight and aimed-

"Fugaku!"

He didn't stop.

Mikoto screamed and ran over to her husband and son. But it was too late.

Itachi didn't flinch. Didn't blink as his father struck him.

He fell back, with a cheek bone cracked and his mother pouring herself over him.

"Fugaku! Stop!" She yelled as her eldest lay limply beneath her. When Itachi finally stirred, she pinned him down. "You both need to stop it!"

Both stilled, and Mikoto watched as her husband wilted before her eyes and left without a word.

A door slam in the distance later and Mikoto sat up as her son slowly rescinded back away from her and was brought back from his lifeless state. Itachi laid back against the wall, with feet pooling in shattered glass and fresh blood.

Mikoto patted his cold hands. "You hate him, don't you?" She murmured quietly as Itachi's dark eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling and a rivulet of thin blood slid from his split lips.

Itachi just shook his head. "No, Okaa-san… you have to love them first in order to hate them."

_…_

The salvageable, as _Kage_ had deemed them, were less than a few dozen men and a couple of children. Apparently most women had thrown themselves in with their sick children and husbands in sheer desperation.

Neji wrinkled his nose in disgust. The scent of sickness was palpable, the cloying sweet rot licked at his senses nauseatingly and the slush that he told himself was _mud _was black. He sloshed through the buildings and often times, the occasional primordial hut for this was the most rural village he had ever come across.

There were no electric lines or paved walkways, no convenience stores or streetlights. He'd always known of the unbalances of the world, just as he'd known of the stifling poverty that plagued (no pun intended) the smaller countries.

Apparently, Kawa no Kuni was no exception.

Especially this village in particular, which he had been told was agriculturally based and extremely poor. One of the smallest and on the fringes of major society, this village was a second thought, barely a blot on anyone's conscience if they were to die out.

That is why Kage had been given authority to dispose of the lost causes so easily.

For Kami forbid, one of their elite shinobi got sick from trying to save an already dead man.

Neji narrowed his eyes at the _salvageable,_ the groaning victims were lying on mats where the Med-nin, he and his team had semi escorted, were flittering about like moths to a flame. With their hands alight with an emerald glow, they poured themselves into their patients. His Byakugan watched evenly as they did so, with life energies wavering with every victim saved.

The gossamer fog had melted off quickly enough and the higher elevation meant that the air was thinner, colder…

It was late summer and yet, Neji felt an irrepressible chill settle in his bones. It was unsettling, the restlessness did not just affect him, it was with the walking able as well as the Med-nin.

He had been standing watch for a few sparse hours now, monitoring with his Kekkei Genkai the perimeter of the village and checking for any heartbeats in the quarantined areas to make sure there were none left behind.

By now, Neji was feeling a little irked by his new teammates sudden disappearances and even more so at Uchiha.

What else could, _secure the area_, imply? It was ridiculous that Uchiha Sasuke had not returned with their fussy little Captain in tow yet.

He couldn't even sense their chakra signatures, which were most likely suppressed, or even see their heartbeats or the slightest glimmers of chakra.

So Hyuuga Neji stayed his post, leaning against the doorframe of a house while the Med-nin scuttled about the courtyard (the dirt center of the village where a stream passed through) from victim to victim.

One, he didn't know which, knelt beside a frantic boy who was quaking with thrashing tremors and looked as if he was about ready to bolt, he was the only child able to stand. The Med-nin looked over her shoulder and waved him over with worried eyes.

Was it Emi, Ayuka and Yuri? Yes, that was it. Now he just had to figure which name was the correct one.

"Tsuru, can you please find Koneko-chan?" The Med-nin asked timidly with her eyes looking down, avoiding his gaze.

"She and Hebi are not within my sight range," he informed thinly, with his Byakugan peering down at her.

"She's gone?" The Med-nin gasped. "Where did she go?"

It seemed somewhat wrong to put down one's own Captain. "To garner supplies, possibly," he shifted his gaze over the lumps of emaciated flesh that were human beings, lined up on the ground in rows like cattle for the slaughter. Then, just as suddenly, his gaze flitted onto the Med-nin, narrowing. "Why?"

"It's just-"

The boy fussed. "I need to go!" He rasped as he tried to twist out of the Med-nin's grasp, but her hands were more than enough for his bone-thin wrists. "Let me go!"

"_Shh…"_ The Med-nin cooed and gathered up the boy gently to her chest. He was nothing but dirt-scabbed skin and fragile bones. "She can help him..." She whispered breathily. "Just get her."

Neji nodded for reasons unknown to him and began the search for a child who could save a child.

_…_

"Ugh… I feel like shit." Naruto groaned as he flexed his jaw with a crack. "How long have I been out?"

"Long enough." Jiraiya supplemented as he helped the Jinchuuriki sit up.

Naruto zipped up his orange and black jacket, with eyes lingering on the inked seal encircling his belly button. "Eh… is Kagome-chan and Teme back yet?"

Sakura huffed from across the room. "No."

Naruto groaned. "They've been gone _forever_…"

Sakura rolled her eyes and propped her feet on the windowpane. "Storm's coming." She mused at the dark clouds on the horizon. "And fast."

Jiraiya suddenly stiffened. "Somebody's coming too." He stood with white hair flaring. "And fast."

Sakura pricked up at the tremor of_ that_ particular chakra signature. "Oh, Kami… no."

Naruto ran a hand irritably over his scalp with a growl. "I'm going to _explode_ if… _he _comes in here." He remembered who it was that knocked him in the first place.

"Sakura-chan, hold the door!" Jiraiya bellowed as he hightailed it to the window.

"Where are you going?" Sakura yelped as she remained glued to her chair.

"I'm getting the hell away from that kid." Jiraiya responded swiftly with already one leg hanging out and over the windowpane.

But it was too late.

The door busted open, to reveal the devout apostle of the infamous Sannin, Jiraiya-

Uchiha Shisui.

"_Long time, no see!"_

Jiraiya paled. "He copied my hairstyle too?"

Shisui fiddled with a protruding lock spiking out stubbornly. "Why not?" He shrugged. "You're my idol."

"What a freak." Naruto deadpanned.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And now we all know where Shisui's hairstyle comes from. In case you had trouble picturing it before with my poor description skills… (-_-)I basically see Shisui as a younger Jiraiya with black hair and no tattoos on his face. Shisui is my favorite character, bar none, has anyone else realized he gets more airtime than any other character? I just wouldn't be able to write this story without him…

**Chapter Eighteen Summary: **While Neji breaks up a cat fight, resulting in carrying a very pissy Uchiha piggyback, Shisui and Jiraiya do what they always do when they get together (and when Shisui gets over the stalker-like tendencies): they get drunk. So aside from the bathhouses, the sake, the horny Anko and the all too pissed Sakura; Itachi crashes the party, along with Naruto…and _Sai,_ because they have serious stuff to talk about and all this seriousness needs to be talked about in back alleys like the super secret ninja they are! And then finally when Kagome actually gets down to doing business, her heart stops, literally… but for good reason people, after all she did just kill her first demon, or youkai or whatever these backwood crazy villagers call them. The real question is however, was it really her first?

Reviews= _Update_** Date **(wait time)

1,000 _total_ = **Instantaneous** (none)

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **October 27**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **November 10**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **December 8**(Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **January 5**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Saturday, October, 16**_


	18. Dear God, I think I died today

**Author's Note: **No flashbacks because I have literally no time for them, I'm updating purely on reserve right now. They will return, however.

* * *

**Memoirs of a Prodigy**

**

* * *

**

-Chapter Eighteen-

Dear God, I think I died today

* * *

_because swords scream louder than words_

_even when there's too much too say_

_we still go for the throat._

_He'd found their masks first—_

_

* * *

_

Along with her short sword cast off by the gnarled roots of what remained of a rather _shredded_ tree. The old oak was gutted from the inside out, with heavy branches flung meters away and bits of wood peppering the grasses.

Hyuuga Neji let his fingers grip and curl at the cusp of a porcelain cheek. The neko mask's whiskers swirled and smiled back.

They'd been here, maybe an hour prior? He examined the soft indentions in the soil, barely perceptible but then again, neither of his teammates were trying to hide their tracks.

He'd been on this wild goose chase for hours now; surely whatever the Med-nin needed his Captain for was futile at present. But when an ANBU was on the move they were hard to find; and when they didn't want to be found, then they simply _weren't _found. Neji was grateful for the prior.

He gathered up the porcelain masks and the discarded short sword with a begrudging expression behind that mask of his.

He'd always imagined ANBU differently.

Neji's opalescent eyes flicked to the naked blade in his grip. The steel, was thankfully, not nicked and gleaming. The hilt was a woven pattern, ivory white with a few smudges here and there. Overall the weapon was unharmed, not that the owner gave a damn apparently.

Whatever Uchiha was doing, he was doing it the wrong way.

Leaving Neji to traipse through the countryside for his two renegade teammates. They both would be shot off the roster in a heartbeat if it was discovered they had both abandoned their posts.

It was then, a tremor thrummed beneath his feet. Neji paused, glanced down and felt the subtle aftershocks of what appeared to be an earthquake? _Impossible, _he quickly thought. Knowing Kawa no Kuni's geological markers indicated no fault lines or tectonic instability. This was a country made up of _rivers_, it was nothing but a runoff from the mountain range that bordered Kaze and sheltered Ame, keeping the _rain_ in and the desert _dry._

Neji was already running; flickering past in soft bursts of chakra and his Byakugan flitting about just as rapidly to hone in at start of this sudden quake.

The storm hit him like a slap in the face.

Cold and wet, the sheet of rain collided with him just as he bolted in. The angry blue-black clouds fleshed out like an ugly bruise against the gaping summer sky.

The chakra fluctuations flaring out madly hinted enough to something akin to a fight, but they were withheld right at the cusp of the pinnacle, muffled and subdued. They were fighting all right, they weren't disguising that fact, but it wasn't _lethal._

As he honed onto their signatures, he could practically feel their chakra thrumming through him. Clashing like small wasps with venom spewing but were all buzz and little sting, they were like snarling dogs with swift nips and bites, blood would be drawn but no one would die.

_What the hell is Uchiha thinking?_ Neji felt the tingle through the rain pelting him. His hair was plastered to his neck and back. There was electricity in the air. The unnatural sheets of wind were stretching and running alongside him. Both of their elements were flaring wildly.

Neji paused suddenly when he nearly toppled over a sudden unnatural outcropping. To evade it, he _leapt._

In the air momentarily, he caught sight of the epicenter.

The earth was shattered in an ugly scar, splitting up the rock in nasty ledges and crags, similar to the one he just launched off of. It was as if a demon or an ogre or some otherworldly giant had taken a single talon and dragged it across the soft top layers and sliced the bedrock. Bamboo was reduced to fresh splinters and other muddied up foliage encircled the arena. The heavy downpour sloshed in small pools and fleeting brown waterfalls as mud and rock mixed.

And then, there they were, colliding in and out like angry birds with the storm being their coliseum. An inky blue-grey dome of clouds swirled and rumbled with sudden white flashes illuminating their seams. A sudden crack elicited across the sky behind them and a streak of lightning pierced in the same moment. They were but blots of ink against the breadth of the storm.

Both combatants fell from the backlash of their collision. As did Neji, his feet collided against the slick uprooted rock.

He rushed through the trees. Stalks of bamboo sliced at his neck and whipped him through the howling winds.

Neji crashed into the battle-made clearing desperately, breaths panting and heartbeats in his ears. For all he knew, he was going to collect a dead body.

He spotted Kagome first.

She was on the edge of the torn up earth, a dark blot in the walls of downpour, but her chakra was clear and crisp as light, and was bolting across the shredded up rock with little resistance. She was like a cat, agile and leaping from clefts and across fissures, she sung through the air with the wind whining in her wake. Her body was one fluid motion after the other, her legs were hitting the rock too harshly though, slipping slightly but she was using the momentum skillfully to her advantage.

Uchiha was faster, _somehow._

He was before her in the next moment and in a crash of blinding light from above, they clashed. The sound was earsplitting as Kagome caught his _chokutō between her palms. The hit brought her to knees and she resembled a small prayer. In the next moment, she flung the blade into the ground and it stuck into the rocky muck. She dove underneath Uchiha and slid through his legs and was about swipe a kick to his skull when Uchiha sliced at her with metal singing._

_Kagome dodged barely, bent back at an impossible angle as the blade sung over her torso and her face, catching the very tips of her bangs, shearing them off. _

_With her throat arched and bare, Kagome watched as Sasuke missed the thrumming slip of life, that delicate column of breath…_

_That he could slit in a half a second._

_Kagome smirked as Sasuke's eyes glowed bloody fresh in the dark storm-light._

_And then she twisted and the water twirled with her in thin fans, and sliced at Sasuke's feet. She slit the thin white lining, that slight tether that was so vital. Sasuke's Achilles' tendon was cut. _

_Both of them. _

_It should have ended right then and there, but as Kagome arched and flipped over his shoulder to escape the falling Uchiha and cascading blade-_

_Sasuke caught her in his final movements and brought her back down, like a dying bird with broken wings. Kagome grunted as she felt her spine rattle with the sharp stone colliding with it, her skull throbbed white across her eyesight. She gasped at the sharpness of the pain. _

_A hiss of metal was her only warning, Kagone flinched—_

_The chokutō stabbed the earth, mere breaths away from her cheeks and bared throat._

_So close, Kagome swore she felt her cheek sting. _

_And then, Sasuke was hovering over her, with legs limply laying behind him in a pool of sluggish blood and mud. His breath was heaving hot over her. His hand was gripping the hilt of his weapon harshly to keep him up while the other was placed solidly into the wet earth beside her hair. _

_Kagome smirked. He could have impaled her skull just as she could have ripped out his heart or slit his throat when he was going down._

_Remarkably it was a— "Draw," she breathed out. His bangs hung past in a dripping blue-black that seeped to her cheeks. _

_Her eyes were smiling in the lightning. _

_There was a splashing rushing towards them but Sasuke's eyes were already fading to black and Kagome was still staring at the blade impaling the earth next to her._

_"Hn," Sasuke grunted but his breathing was still audible. _

_Hyuuga Neji nearly dropped the masks in astonishment. This is what they were doing? Fighting? _

_With their dark hair plastered to their faces, Uchiha's eyes red and his Captain smiling, they looked like a couple of lunatics. And he was pretty sure, they each were sporting disabling injuries if he had take a guess at Uchiha's bleeding ankles and his Captain's blistering and crumpled hand. _

_It was only when Neji was a few meters away did Uchiha disentangle his legs and flop over alongside his Captain, with the blade still very much, lodged into the ground. _

_Neji looked down at the rather dazed prodigy and satisfied Uchiha. "Are you two finished?" He intoned evenly. _

_It was when Kagome's smirk turned into a gaping grin, did Neji define her as certifiably insane. _

_Especially when she started to laugh. Hysterically. _

_Neji's brow furrowed as his eyes flicked over to Uchiha. "What is wrong with her?"_

_But Sasuke was utterly still with his hair mixing into the water like ink, he smirked. "Nothing."_

_Neji dropped their masks. Fate had obviously cemented him in with these psychopaths, now he just had to figure out what he did to deserve such karma._

_…_

_Sasuke couldn't walk._

_So, she had instructed Neji to assist in that matter…_

_Which resulted in the rather awkward situation, with a scowling Neji carrying a very pleased-with-himself Uchiha; piggyback. _

_Kagome stifled another giddy outburst, whatever pent up frustration she had a few hours prior was completely and utterly erased in her little spar (which got a little out of hand) with Sasuke. Now Kagome was as light as a feather, fleetingly content and almost nonsensical about it. Kagome sent a sidelong glance to him, being carried by Hyuuga was starting to grate on him no matter how satisfying their little fight had been. _

_Sasuke was hunched over Neji's back, with his feet dangling and dripping with fresh blood and the rivulets speckling the moss in their wake. He encompassed the Hyuuga's entire breadth uncomfortably and had to shift so that he did not slide off. Luckily the Uchiha was too exhausted to complain much as he couldn't put any weight on severed tendons._

_Kagome limped behind, she didn't dare look what lay beneath her sleeve of what had been singed by Sasuke's Goryuuka no Jutsu. However, the fact that she didn't feel anything meant bad news. She didn't dwell on it lest Sasuke discover the severity of her wounds. It was amazing that she was able to walk let alone continue fighting once Sasuke had electrocuted her legs. They had been paralyzed temporarily but her Kaze no Kizu gave her plenty of time to recover as Sasuke scrambled to dodge with a Raiton Kage Bunshin. The Lightning Clone which nearly halved his chakra._

_After that, it cascaded into all out sword fight, except she didn't have a sword and spent most of her time dodging and sending out her Wind blades in between Sasuke's propelled Chidori and the occasional Raikiri when he got frustrated with her deftness at dodging. _

_It was when Sasuke's chakra began to borderline dangerously low did she end it with a quick swipe to his tendons so that he would be immobile. It was an exhausting spar, neither of them had any real strategy except for sending out any Jutsu that came to mind and would feel satisfying at that moment. _

_"How's your leg?" Sasuke questioned deeply with dark eyes hooded and laying on her heavily. _

_Kagome shrugged. "The twitching has stopped but I can't feel very much. You didn't put nearly enough power behind it to do any tissue damage." _

_"Hn," Sasuke grunted tersely. He wanted to walk, but the look Kagome was sending him meant she would carry him herself if he posed too much of a fit. "That technique you used after…" After he had stabbed the wet earth with a channeled Chidori. "—was puzzling."_

_"It's just a name, Sasuke," Kagome muttered. _

_"The one that tore open the very earth?" Neji reflected regally. "What do you call it?"_

_"Kaze no Kizu," she practically hissed. "And it's just a name, that technique I used is my sole creation, just as Fuujin no Mai."_

_"Fuujin no Mai?" The Jutsu's name rolled off of Neji's tongue smoothly. She had the most embellished names for her techniques."Is that what you call those?" _

_Kagome nodded to that fact, she had the Jutsu to such a science she didn't need to command it verbally or initiate it with any hand signs. "A-rank, offensive. I have subtler versions of it, back when I had stealthier missions with Reconnaissance."_

_"How do you name them?" Neji inquired curiously, with insipid eyes flittering to her._

_Kagome shrugged. "Whatever comes to mind, but I doubt my subconscious is being original."_

_A silence filled in after that. She was referring to her past and whatever her past held was somehow, influencing even the very naming of her techniques. _

_"I didn't know Kakashi taught you the Raiton Bunshin?" Kagome asked suddenly, breaking the silence as she walked alongside in a quick pace. Kagome used her eyes to watch her steps instead of feeling it with the soles of her feet, so she didn't trip over numb legs. _

_"He didn't," Sasuke spoke evenly and briefly as his Sharingan flashed sharply. _

_Kagome held his gaze for a long moment. "Cheater…"_

_Sasuke blinked back to the familiar black with a muted smirk. _

_"Just so, you shouldn't use it," she instructed. "It can save you in the end but leaves you weak; you should learn it properly first before applying it." The technique would allow him to escape any attack, nothing was faster than Lightning; however it took half of his chakra and with good reason. _

_"You still plan on training with Team Seven?" Neji intoned thinly._

_"Aa." Sasuke's stare deepened into her as if he were wishing she would also agree. _

_"Hm, well Hatake Kakashi was the first reason I had to start training with Team Seven." Back when Naruto had barged into her apartment and dragged her off so that she could meet the team with the prospects of being placed under the tutelage of the infamous Copy-nin. "And I believe that end of the bargain has yet to be fulfilled." _

_"And ANBU training?" Neji's pallid eyes slipped over to her from behind his owl mask. "Every member has to meet the quota for the number of hours when they're off duty." _

_Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes, of course the Hyuuga had to know and bring up every minute detail. Details he would rather overlook. _

_"The fact that we don't belong to a Department and are a single unit, means that we are not bound to the same restrictions but… nonetheless we will train with other ANBU units during their morning and evening sessions." Leaving the rest of the day with Team Seven. "You're welcome to join us during the day, Neji." _

_Neji nodded. "As are you." It seems he too, wasn't quite ready to relinquish his former teammates all that readily. _

_"We should probably start with learning a technique that can harness all that Lightning you conjured up in that storm, Sasuke." Kagome hummed as she plodded over the mossy rocks. _

_"Aa."_

_"But not before Genjutsu," Kagome reminded him. "You suck at it." If she had even dabbled into using a single illusion in their spar, she would have won in the first few seconds. Let alone actually bring something on with some actual momentum in it, she didn't want to scar Sasuke for life…_

_Itachi might be a little peeved at that. _

_Neji raised a brow. "How terrible is he?"_

_"You don't want to know…" Kagome drawled as she kicked a pebble. _

_"I always thought the Sharingan was the ultimate counter and weapon in illusions," Neji droned as he accidently walked under a nestle of branches hanging too low._

_Sasuke felt the needle-like twigs scrape his scalp. "Shut it, Hyuuga."_

_"Be careful, Uchiha. I have no qualms of dropping you."_

_"Hyuuga, the moment you drop me, is the moment you die."_

_Ah teamwork, Kagome thought bitterly. _

_…_

_"Imprinting, huh?" Shisui rested his chin on a fisted hand, with eyes staring out on the ever placid waters of the Nakano lake. The sun was setting in a muggy gold light. "Can things get anymore complicated?" _

_"Always…" Jiraiya nodded next to him, his blood-red sandals clipping the water's rim as he swung his feet over the dock. "It's just another reason why we should be more careful around this… Kagome. Naruto will be prone to outbursts but Kagome may also follow… they may become protective over one another…" _

_"Is she going get violent?" _

_Jiraiya shrugged. "From previous cases, Jinchuuriki and their partners tend to act out violently, yes. She'll be more prone to it… but I was told she's sort of a pacifist?" _

_"Yeah… but doesn't that make her more impressionable?" Shisui roughly tossed the pebble across the lake's golden ripples. It skipped for a good few hundred yards. _

_"Perhaps, though one can never be sure."_

_"Chibs just doesn't like killing people, she doesn't like hurting them either but she'll do it. Plus, never using your chakra will make a shinobi restless." It was like walking around with a loaded gun and your hand on the trigger, you had to fire eventually, just hopefully not to kill. "Look at Itachi, he was a pacifist at heart, still is, but now he's reduced to getting all restive after a few short days without any action. The shinobi life will do that to ya, make you a sadistic killer and then make you crave it." Shisui's words were even and undefined, they spoke for themselves as his eyes were cast off on the fading horizon. _

_"Ah yes, Itachi…" Jiraiya lips curved as his eyes slipped to the rippling waters._

_"The Hokage tattled to you about that too?" Shisui leaned back, palms splayed by his hips on wood. _

_"Aa, Tsunade tells me everything eventually." Jiraiya crossed a leg over his knee. "I am curious though, the sudden interest he has in the girl raises some valid points we discussed earlier." _

_Shisui shrugged. "I still don't know if I believe you or not, but Itachi says she might be able to read the tablet the old Sage left behind." _

_Jiraiya nodded. "You will let me know, then?"_

_Shisui rolled his eyes. "Just because I trust you doesn't mean I'm going to tell you everything." He grinned impishly. "Where would the fun be if I did?" _

_Jiraiya cracked his own sidelong smirk and smacked Shisui on the back. "Ah, I should've taken you on as an apprentice… We would be traveling the world by now with our exploits."_

_"Heh, I would never have left Itachi here to fend for himself and the Kyuubi brat reminds you too much of Namikaze." _

_"Aa… but Kakashi is doing a fine job with Naruto, I feel as if my apprentice is being taken away from me." Jiraiya mused a bit sadly. "One day, I'm going to take that boy and make him see the world a bit before settling down with that Kagome girl." _

_"Ugh, you travel too much you old goat. That's why that prick is taking over." Shisui grumbled and immediately fouled at the brief mention of Kakashi._

_"What is it now?" Jiraiya drawled as he was about to solve the discrepancies among children. _

_Shisui crossed his arms with lips pursed stubbornly. "You know. He's butting in and threatened Itachi that he would take Chibi away and even Gaki from him. He even nullified Chib's probation before we could even get our foot in." _

_"Hm, seems Kakashi is still very much bitter about Rin."_

_Shisui snorted. "Nobody cares on what happened when Itachi was on their ANBU squad anymore. Itachi did the right thing back then, that prick Hatake just can't let it go."_

_Jiraiya turned to the young Uchiha. "She still died, Shisui. That never goes away for him. You should start analyzing Kakashi's actions more wisely and then maybe, you might seek answers." When Shisui remained petulantly silent, Jiraiya continued. "I know Obito's death sits bitterly with all of you, but you must understand that maybe deep down, Kakashi sees Rin in this Kagome and doesn't want history repeating itself." _

_Shisui stiffened up and whipped around to Sannin. "Itachi would never let that happen to her."_

_Jiraiya chuckled. "See how emotional you get at the mere mention, and you hardly know the girl." Imagine if you knew her for years, and the reason she died stemmed from one man that could've prevented it. "Kakashi's actions are in the right place, Shisui. He may be resentful and maybe a little vengeful, so that Itachi may feel an ounce of his pain but all in all, he's just a good hearted pervert." He finished with a wicked grin. "Like us." _

_"I wouldn't be surprised if he killed Chibi himself just to get back at Itachi for letting that creep of a girl die." Shisui muttered while Jiraiya guffawed and whacked the Uchiha upside the head._

_"Oi!" Shisui rubbed the rising lump. "I don't give a fuck about anybody else!" _

_"You're selfish, now I am reminded why I didn't take you on as a pupil." Jiraiya crossed his arms with a sigh. "Really Shisui, you should think of others outside your immediate circle."_

_Shisui stuck out his tongue. "I'll slit Hatake's throat if he acts up again." He replied nonchalantly. "I mean it."_

_"I believe you." Jiraiya spoke evenly. "That's the problem, you and Itachi kill too easily. Kakashi probably sees you as a bad influence." _

_Shisui snorted. "Chibs will never see that side of us." As far as she was concerned he was easy going Shisui, not ever Shunshin no Shisui, the man who could slaughter a dozen in a moment's notice. _

_"And you honestly wonder why Kakashi became Sasuke's sensei specifically?"_

_"Aside from the fact that the Kyuubi brat was Namikaze's orphaned son, no, I have no fucking idea." The Fourth was Hatake's late sensei after all, sentimentality tended to stick with everyone nowadays. _

_"Interestingly enough, Kakashi probably didn't want history repeating itself with Sasuke as well." Jiraiya sent Shisui a sidelong glance. _

_Shisui shrugged and remained somber. "Sasuke stuck himself on Itachi's path, no one is gonna change that brat's mind."_

_"Hm, maybe so…" Jiraiya settled into a content stillness, with eyes distant as he let the soft laps of waves fill the silence. "Got any sake?" He grinned devilishly. "Or maybe a nice lady friend who is lonely?"_

_Shisui rolled his eyes. "One minute your all wise-old-sage and the next you're a drunken pervert."_

_"And what's wrong with that?" Jiraiya replied nonplussed._

_Shisui eyes gleamed. "Absolutely nothing." _

_Jiraiya was up and standing with sandals clapping about on the wood and palms rubbing together excitedly. "Then what are we waiting for? There are a few new spots I want to see before I set off on my travels once more." He was practically giggling._

_"There's a new mixed gender onsen that just opened last month." Shisui pointed out seriously. "We must end up there by the end of the night or by the gods I will… think less of you."_

_"And we cannot have that! I have my reputation to uphold." Jiraiya was red-cheeked and already skipping down the dock. "Let us go, my young apprentice (for the next eight hours)…We have a village to pillage!"_

_Shisui rolled his eyes. "You need to brush up on your pick up lines or I'm going to ditch you."_

_"Hurry up! We're burning moonlight!"_

_"Alright, alright but if you see any pink hair-"_

_"I know, I know. Run. Believe me, I will."_

_…_

_"Where the hell have you been?" Screeched a very peeved Med-nin. Emi was it? Ayuka? _

_Sasuke blinked sluggishly, feeling the ringing in his ears reverberating violently and wracking between his temples like a hammer. He was pretty sure, Kagome had poisoned him, he couldn't feel anything from his knees down and his limbs felt like lead and iron mixed together with… something…. heavy._

_Neji stiffened at the sudden tirade, his back was twining a nice little knot where the Uchiha was damaging his usual immaculate posture. Thankfully it was his Captain that was the target and not him. He couldn't deal with another annoyance, lest he accidently prove one Med-nin unconscious for a month long coma. Neji sent a sidelong glance to his little Captain._

_Kagome was going to pass out. _

_Yep, she was going to just take a nice long nap in the slush that everyone was calling mud because blood and feces would be a much more disgusting fact. So, no it was mud and it looked actually kind of squishy and warm and—_

_"Are you even paying attention to me?" Eri snapped her fingers in front of Kagome's face where her eyes were trained on the ground._

_Kagome swallowed with eyes flicking up. "I'm sorry, what?"_

_"I sent your teammate out," she counted her fingers. "…six hours ago!" _

_Kagome nodded absently. "Can you heal my other teammate then?" She poked the zombie-like Sasuke who gave her a glower. "He won't be able to walk on severed tendons and I think I blew out my eardrum because…" She placed a hand to her earlobe and brushed the soft lump of flesh. Well what do you know? "Yep, blood…and I honestly cannot hear a word you're saying." She blinked and watched Eri's lips shape into a nice little 0 and the veins in her neck convulse. Yep, no sound. Just that earsplitting ring and a few white flashes crossing her vision. "Is that lightning?" Kagome looked up to the grayish sky, the sunset had turned into dusk and was drenching everything in a nice shade of musky blue._

_Eri rolled her eyes and placed her hands on Kagome's temples. Fingertips became ablaze and flared a flinty emerald. "Better?"_

_Kagome blinked and slowly, the ringing abated and the humming through her skull stemmed. "Much," she clipped but stiffened when a lukewarm stream slid down her neck._

_"Kagome—" Sasuke straightened at the sudden sight of blood flowing from Kagome's ear much too easily. _

_"Whoops," Eri chimed and the viridian glow flared even brighter. "Don't worry, don't worry…" She placated the Uchiha who looked like he was about faint himself or maybe kill something? "Just your ear was healing too quickly already; I had to slice through a few things to get it all in the right place." Eri's hands dimmed and were back at her side. "There, now can you hear?" She snapped a finger near Kagome's left ear. _

_Kagome nodded and swiped away the thin rivulet instinctively, it only smeared across her pallid throat in such a brilliant red, it looked orange. _

_Eri smiled nervously. "So what were you all doing…?" She trailed as suddenly noticied Kagome's hand. "Oh Kami-sama," she gasped. "What happened?" She knelt down to cradle the curled up and singed appendage. Kagome's black sleeve was bubbling with skin and a glint of white shined under the dried blood. _

_Kagome whipped it out of her grasp. "Heal him, then me," she ordered with eyes flicking to a very pale Sasuke. _

_Eri paused but then conceded. Kagome still outranked her. "Lay him over there, Tsuru-san," she murmured dejectedly. "Ayumi will take care of him…"_

_Kagome nodded to Neji who plodded through the mud with a near unconscious Uchiha on his back and yet, still managed to retain some regality. She crossed her arms and effectively tucked her arm out of view. _

_"You poisoned him?" Eri whispered harshly._

_"A little bit. To sedate him." Kagome shrugged. "He barely even noticed." Because there was no way possible a sober Uchiha Sasuke would let Hyuuga Neji carry him piggyback halfway across Kawa no Kuni. And there was no way she was letting him even attempt to walk. _

_"He trusts you too much." Eri shook her head exasperatingly. "Yuka told you? About the boy we had here earlier?"_

_Kagome cut in. "He ran away. Back into the quarantined areas?" Neji had been sent to her and Sasuke's way for a very specific reason, it was a trivial bout that had cascaded downhill quickly when they had returned a bit too late. _

_Eri nodded. "Hai, when we get your hand healed, could you—"_

_Kagome nodded curtly. "I'll retrieve the boy first. Heal Sasuke and then me. I'll be back." She was already walking away into the dark shadows of the abandoned areas of the village. She slipped away and into the shadows too easily._

_Eri bowed. "Arigato, Koneko-chan. You've always been selfless." Then she turned towards their makeshift clinic tent. In a few quick steps, Eri flipped the canvas flap and entered the recovery area and approached the gurney Ayumi was pressing the Uchiha into. _

_"Sit still." Ayumi tried to keep her voice steady but the Uchiha was fighting to sit up. Instead she was blushing and trying not to tremble when the Hyuuga flanked her and watched her with a raised brow. His avian mask was still obediently in place. _

_"Where did she go?" Sasuke sat up despite Ayumi's insistent fussing, he completely ignored her and stared down Eri for answers. _

_Neji blinked languidly and soon his Byakugan threaded through his temples with veins. "She is entering the quarantined areas?" He mused thinly with a slight furrowing. _

_"Remember when I first asked you to get her, Tsuru-san?" Eri crossed her arms irritably._

_The boy fussed. "I need to go!" He rasped as he tried to twist out of the Med-nin's grasp, but her hands were more than enough for his bone-thin wrists. "Let me go!"_

"_Shh…" The Med-nin cooed and gathered up the boy gently to her chest. He was nothing but dirt-scabbed skin and fragile bones. "She can help him..." She whispered breathily. "Just get her." _

Neji nodded, his chestnut-brown hair slipping past his shoulders.

"Well, that boy broke free after_ hours_ of trying to keep him still when we were tending to the others and ran in after his sister." Eri scowled deeply.

"She is dead, I presume?" Neji observed calmly. It was a typical scene during these disasters; family members not coming to terms and running in to _save_ their loved ones.

"Of course," Eri muttered. "And I wanted Kagome-chan to use her Genjutsu on him sooner so he wouldn't bolt and further hurt himself." But now he was in the plague infested sectors of the village, where none of them could enter lest they catch something _catching._ "But now Kagome-chan has to go through all this trouble because you _two_ cannot behave." Eri huffed. It was Uchiha's fault for antagonizing ANBU Captain Kage and his once more, when Kagome stormed off in frustration and then Hyuuga's for not reining Uchiha in and not locating them fast enough. "You two better get your act together and stop dragging Kagome-chan down." She had never seen the young prodigy so frazzled and worried over teammates before. If she didn't have to worry none of this would have happened! "You're actions are just plain_ thoughtless_."

Both newly assigned ANBU blinked. Dark and pallid eyes stared unflinchingly apathetic and unconcerned.

Eri breathed heatedly. How did Kagome deal with them? They were pleasant to look at but altogether thickheaded and self-absorbed! _"Ugh!"_

"Is it not just as thoughtless to send an unaccompanied ANBU officer into an infected area?" Neji's voice was chilling and his eyes glinted in the way that showed he did not appreciate the deprecating remarks when he already was not feeling particularly proud at that moment.

Sasuke was already sitting straight up with dark eyes deep and showed signs of actually attempting to walk. "Someone needs to stop her." His deep voice held a husky rasp to it.

Ayumi huffed and with all her weight pinned the Uchiha back to the gurney. "Silly Hebi-san, Kagome-chan never gets sick," she crooned sweetly, feeling all shyness shed away into annoyance. "So. Sit. Down. Now."

"Hyuuga." Sasuke gritted out and restrained from snapping the Med-nin's wrist to break free.

Neji nodded and slipped out of the tent before Eri or Ayumi could blink.

Ayumi sighed. "Now will you sit still? Your friend is going to get sick now."

"If I am not able to walk within the next three minutes..." His dark eyes flicked over to the irritating Med-nin. "You will not be able to for the remainder of your pitiful life."

Ayumi gaped while Eri flicked his temple. "Geez, you're one grumpy little boy when she's in trouble, huh?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. "You have no idea…"

…

"I can't believe Anko was there…" Shisui rubbed his jaw and stretched it with a _crack_ in the joint. The problem was, with that _particular _sadistic bitch, she chased away every prospect of _not_ going home alone tonight. Along with cornering him and attempting to straddle him at the bar. "She practically raped me!"

"She's a little wild but I'm sure she would have been _alright_…" Jiraiya amended as he settled deeper into the steamy water until it covered his nose. Bubbles proceeded to burble as Jiraiya's eyes scanned the misty onsen. The problem with mixed-gender onsens in Konoha, was that most woman (99.9%) in their respectable village tended to avoid them. Leaving most men (99.9%) to sulk in a testosterone filled cesspool.

Overall, their night had been a complete dud.

"Oh she was _alright_, I think we slept together _once_ and she's been crazy ever since." Shisui leaned back and let the washcloth slip over his eyes.

There was a gurgle. "Got a bite of something she liked?" Jiraiya sneered.

Shisui smirked. "Yeah, it was funny the first couple of times she chased girls away… now, it's just plain fucking annoying."

"Was she good?"

"The last thing I'm going to do is describe a one night stand with the 'kinkiest kunoichi in Konoha' while you're in the _same _onsen with _me_—_naked_."

"Oh come on, I need new material for my books… " Jiraiya complained audibly and a few old men in the corner gave them prying looks.

"Speaking of your book, you owe me the next addition." Shisui cracked an eye open.

"It isn't even on sale yet," Jiraiya defended lightly as his eyes searched the misty recesses for feminine curves.

"Exactly. I have people who will pay a lot for them, I want it autographed and on my front porch tomorrow morning."

"This is just another way of getting back at Kakashi…" Jiraiya muttered.

"Mhm. That's a nice bonus to it as well but seriously, the guy needs to get laid. All he does is read them, over and over… it's disgusting. " Shisui contented himself into a scowl. "I hope he washes his hands."

"Why should I even give it to you?" Jiraiya stuck out his tongue. "I owe you nothing."

"Oh you do, without me, you wouldn't have any idea how to hook a girl that's half your age."

Jiraiya sauntered back over alongside the Uchiha with arms crossed and the water sloshing in his wake. "I didn't get any tonight."

"Tonight was an exception." Shisui held up a finger. "Anko was the reason for failure. Not my art of seduction… the next time will be different, we'll get backup, like Genma and Kotetsu…" Shisui trailed off when the shoji screen across opened and closed with a new occupant.

Every lecher in the place held their breath. _Please be a woman, please be a woman…_

The amorphous figure slipped into the waters with a ripple and slowly, achingly waded closer.

Jiraiya giggled. "I think I see something…"

Shisui's eyes strained. "Hey, I think she's a blonde…"

Jiraiya stilled. "Run."

"What?"

"Run. Now." Jiraiya was already out of the water and bolting over the slick pavement in swift _claps._

Shisui turned back around to the new occupant, only to confront—

"Oi."

_Uzumaki Naruto._

The Jinchuuriki was waist deep before him, with only the fringes of his inky black seal poking out over his belly button and his damp blonde hair clinging to his neck and temples. "Where'd Ero-Sennin go?" Naruto asked with a fowl frustration.

Shisui blinked, the Kyuubi brat was still acting up if he was glaring at him that intensely already. "To run away from you, most likely." Because when Naruto arrived, Sakura usually followed and the last thing Jiraiya wanted to do was to face Sakura who in turn, would invoke Tsunade's wrath.

"Sakura-chan is outside though." Naruto pointed out with arms crossing over his chest. "Sent me in to get you guys."

_Chase us out more likely. _"This is a mixed bath, you should have told her to come in!" Shisui tilted his head with a cocky grin plastered over his face. "Why the sudden urgency, Whiskers? You all seemed fine without us when we left the hospital."

Naruto's flinty glare was enough to silence him. "Itachi is out there," he grumbled. "And I'm staying in here for awhile…" His eyes were darting about, obviously fed up with Uchiha Prodigy when he could have an actual conversation with Shisui. "Damn Sai has been following me around all day…" And he had no intention of going back out there.

"Right, right…" Shisui scratched his neck. "Itachi is the one looking for us?" It must've been important to employ a certain pink-haired Kunoichi in his search; which inadvertently garnered Naruto's help and Naruto could locate the great Sannin Jiraiya in a heartbeat. And when Jiraiya was up and about _and_ was in Konoha he was almost most definitely with_ him_, Shunshin no Shisui, one of the most eligible bachelors in town. Shisui grit his teeth, _damn him. _Itachi always found him no matter what.

Naruto nodded with a canine plucking at his lips. "And when the fuck did he and Sakura-chan start talking on a regular basis?"

Shisui stood with a _swoosh _of water and ruffled the damp blonde hair. "Since she helped Chibi out." Finding Kagome in the marketplace and healing them _both _when they were in a bloody daze was a favor nonetheless that Uchiha Itachi appreciated. "You okay?" He asked suddenly. It was sincere sure, but the Jinchuuriki who was mostly feral nowadays seemed a bit muted, a bit depressed, maybe?

Naruto sighed, his eyes were steely but there was a deep dejected ice pooling in those oceanic depths. "Yeah…I just miss her, ya know? It's like, when she _is_ here, she always with someone else…"

"She'll be back soon." Shisui poked him in the forehead. That was entirely what Itachi and him were aiming for lately, but he did feel a twinge of guilt for stringing the Jinchuuriki along. "With the _brat_ in tow_." _Because deep down, Sasuke and Naruto were attached to the hip and their bond was much older than Kagome's. But with Kagome, everything was accelerated, like fate was plastering them all together before they could even get a _though_t in, it was almost _unnatural…_ "Well, better not keep the entourage waiting—" Shisui began to wade his way out.

"I'm staying here," Naruto retorted with sharp eyes closing. Leaning back into the water, Naruto's collarbone hollowed and his throat bared itself. He was inviting death by his posture alone.

"I'll tell Sai to go fuck himself for you?"

Natuto smirked. "Thanks."

"No problem, Whiskers."

…

"I don't know what happened, one second I'm playing with crippled orphan children and the next he has me in his thrall and we're at every bar and pub in the village and then, there were women! Horrible lecherous women! Pawing at me and threatening to rip me to pieces and rape me all at once!"

"But Jiraiya-sama, your chakra signature displayed no indicators of forced influence or manipulation."

"_Shut up, Sai_— Sakura-chan, you must believe me, as soon as we left the hospital I was at the mercy of his mind tricks!"

These were but a few of the shouts that could be heard from the dressing room, as Shisui stole a towel and draped it around his neck. He exited the onsen into the back alleyways of downtown Konohagakure where a single streetlight shone on the cluster of familiar shinobi.

Jiraiya and him figured out long ago that the only way to go on their little tirades (without being beaten to death by Sakura or Naruto) was to put on the façade of the exasperated and infamous hentai (Jiraiya) and the obsessed and stalker-like fan (Shisui). It had worked beautifully, until Itachi had ruined it and actually _told _Sakura.

"Save it." Sakura lifted a palm as if to smack him but rescinded when Jiraiya flinched. Satisfied, she fixed the approaching Shisui in her sights. "We've been looking for you for hours, _baka_." Sakura's jade eyes were cold and hard.

"Saa, gomen ne, Sakura-chan…" Jiraiya began sheepishly. "But it was all his fault!" He sent a accusing finger at Shisui who flanked the Sannin with a swipe to the head.

Sakura's hand curled into a menacing fist. "I told you I don't believe that crap anymore."

Shisui shook his head swiftly and like a wet dog, dried himself until his hair regained some of its usual vigor. "What's the trouble?" He gave Sakura a fleeting glance before setting Itachi and Sai in his sights. They lingered back away from the small blot of light the streetlamp was providing and stood in the adjacent alley, their presence was shadowed and ephemeral.

Itachi stood erectly bringing his lithe frame off the wall with arms crossed. "Sai… go in with Naruto-kun, I do not wish for him to hear this," he murmured.

Sakura immediately bristled. "I _told_ him to get you guys, _not _take a bath."

Jiraiya smiled cheekily and patted the rosette on the head. "_Sure_ you did…"

Sai nodded and slipped into the onsen with only the slightest _click_ of the shoji screen. Once he was gone, Itachi stepped forward into the light as the hollows of his face set long shadows across his calm countenance. It was then Shisui caught light of the inky purple-green bruise marring his young cousin's cheekbone. His gaze immediately dipped away to Sakura, the last thing he wanted to do was blatantly stare down Itachi's wounded pride.

Sakura crossed her arms and settled into a pretty little scowl. "I already know, Shisui, so stop looking at me like I'm supposed to leave."

"I didn't say anything," he defended suddenly, with his voice jumping a few octaves. "I'm just wondering how bad it is… since we're all meeting in a back alley like we're criminals or worse—_sneaky ninjas!"_

Sakura rolled her eyes. "wWhy don't you keep on avoiding the subject, Shisui. We only have time to _kill."_

The night air stilled.

Sakura huffed as she crossed her arms, obviously furious over how everyone could ignore the brutality against Itachi for their own sake.

It was then, Shisui fixed Itachi with a hesitant glance. "He hit you, again?"

But Uchiha Shisui only avoided tender subjects because they tended to goad out his _unpleasant_ side.

"That is not the issue here, Shisui," Itachi spoke too calmly. He would have preferred if Sakura-san had stayed quiet about it.

"The fuck it is!"Shisui exploded. "You shouldn't have to just take it. You could snap his neck in a heartbeat-_ I_ could-"

"Shisui." Sakura pleaded. "Just… _listen_." Bad idea on her part. She didn't expect Shisui to snap so suddenly. Maybe it was better to avoid certain subjects.

Jiraiya sighed with a heavy nod. "She's right, Shisui; let's hear him out before we act too rashly." It wasn't exactly an easy situation, child abuse was somewhat a gray area when it came to a near full-grown boy who could easily defend himself from the onslaught or even move out. But Uchiha Itachi's pride stayed his hand when it came to his father, nor would he relinquish his rights as heir by vacating the compound. "Go on, Itachi. I heard about your council meeting with the Hokage, earlier this evening."

Shisui stiffened. "What? I didn't hear—"

"I was summoned for an evaluation; my actions on my last mission were rash and the consequences, severe." Itachi eyes flicked to the side momentarily as the Hokage's words crept into his mind, crisp and clear.

'_You acted on impulse, Itachi, something that will not go unpunished. Your actions __will__ be submitted to the council for review and you __will__ face the consequences accordingly.'_

"My platoon is put on a temporary probation period until further notice."

A pregnant paused followed.

Jiraiya suddenly spoke. "I will speak to Tsunade, there is no reason you should be held accountable—"

"I was the one who requested it, Jiraiya-sama." Itachi's voice was quiet and dark in the night. "Four ANBU died protecting me. If I was alone, lives would have been saved."

"_You_ would have been dead." Shisui pointed out seriously with eyes darkening at his younger cousin.

"I have requested solo status, Shisui." Itachi informed him fluidly, eyes glinting and knowing, because it was Shisui who had suggested such a thing. A probation on his platoon applied to it as a whole, not to the individual, so until they could gather numbers to fill in their thinning ranks—

Itachi would be alone.

Shisui glared, heatedly and with the utmost frustration. He was caught, his words twisted around, there was no way of convincing Itachi out of this because the problem _was…_

He somewhat agreed to it.

"And the investigation on your ambush?" Jiraiya asked gravely when Shisui had settled into a nasty fit of silence.

"The investigation into my ambush is garnering no progress, it is futile to waste anymore resources on such a fruitless venture."

"Fruitless venture?" Jiraiya reiterated hollowly. "Itachi… somebody wishes to kill you and the more you evade them, the more desperate they will become. You'll not only put teammates in jeopardy but others…"

"Others, as in Kagome-chan," Sakura reminded tenderly with jade eyes downcast.

"It will not come to that, the situation is being dealt with personally." Itachi nodded languidly.

"So you're _not_ giving up… you're pursuing it personally? Alone?" Shisui was aghast. "I can't believe this!"

"It is none of your concern." Itachi words were anything but placating to his elder cousin. "However that is not what I wish to discuss."

Sakura breathed, something about what was about to be said made her fidgety.

"And that is?" Shisui drawled flatly. "What could be so bad-"

"The Clan wishes to have Sasuke betrothed within the year." Itachi cut in with a crisp inflection. "—if not sooner."

"To who?" Shisui automatically asked.

But when everyone else remained silent, even Jiraiya, who was already piecing it to together, Shisui paled.

"No…" Shisui's face slacked.

"Unfortunately, I believe my little brother will raise little objection to the idea as well." His eyes were unreadable, something_ pained_ pooled in those dark recesses. "There is little hope in the possibility of Hyuuga _not_ following suit."

"That's why we need to get Sasuke and Kagome-chan back as soon as possible before the Clans start vying for her." Sakura added, with eyes near frantic.

"You seriously think she'll agree to this, let alone Nara?" Shisui scoffed. "You're making a big deal out of nothing, the only person Chibs would even consider marrying…" His voice died down to a deep resonant whisper. "…is you, Itachi."

Jiraiya chuckled. "This just keeps getting better and better…" Now this was good material to write about.

"Shisui, we already discussed—"

"_You shouldn't fill her head with such fantasies, Shisui." Itachi chastised somberly. "Especially if she is already accustomed to the idea." Disappointment stemmed from unmet expectations, she would never be disappointed if she did not expect anything else from him. _

"_Why? You actually plan on marrying Yui?" Shisui snorted. _

"_No." Itachi intoned too smoothly. "I just never intend on having children." _

And that reality still settled in Shisui's gut bitterly with all the cold resentments to fill in the cracks.

"I don't care what you intend on doing or not doing… just know that little girl doesn't care about marriage or children or anything else, she wants to be with you in any way she can." Shisui heated whispers were scathing. "Even if that means you marrying a bitch and her being tied down to a manipulative Clan…" Because they were a partnership, and he'd never seen Itachi more at ease with himself and he was pretty sure Kagome was feeling the same. They were a partnership, one that would be together, no matter what, even if Itachi married Yui and Sasuke took her for himself.

They would be together, in any way they could.

Sakura took a step forward. "Just don't throw your life away Itachi, or squander it carelessly with reckless decisions, don't _abandon _her." Because it was clear now, Itachi was a masochistic, self-loathing creature. A pacifist at heart, and his _heart_ hated himself, hated the sins he had done and always whispered of how the very moment he died would be a gift to the world. "Please?" Sakura toed the waters cautiously, Uchiha Itachi was but a gaping ocean that was but the calm before the storm.

Itachi said nothing, but his head bowed ever so slightly with eyes closing and thin lashes laying on his knife-blade cheekbones. Resignation to the facts, _for now._ He still had something to live for after all. "Shisui…"

He looked up at his name, eyes glistening and swallowed up with loyalty.

"Did you send out your summon?" He asked suddenly practical and ever thorough in a sort of icy businesslike manner.

Shisui sighed, and his posture slacked with a nod. "Yeah, Kin was sent out a few hours ago but that storm might have slowed him down, Itachi. I don't think we'll get any answers until tomorrow."

"What's wrong?" Sakura suddenly asked, she wasn't ANBU, not even a Jounin, so a Chuunin like her rarely heard anything from within the dark ranks of the Black Ops.

Jiraiya scratched his knuckles along his jaw line. "Loss of communication? Behind schedule?" These were but a few reasons to send out a summon to contact a squad, let alone one of Shunshin no Shisui's fleet eagles.

"The latter," Shisui replied flatly. "I sent out my personal familiar, Kin, to see the progress of the mission."

"By orders or personal concern?" Jiraiya asked again.

"_The latter_." Shisui admitted again with a sigh. "They were supposed to be back a few hours ago."

"Tsunade-shishou gave them three days, seventy-two hours, it's barely been thirty." Sakura pointed out."What? I like to keep count…"

"Hai, but Higurashi-san is known for her…" Itachi trailed with eyes gleaming. "_Efficiency_."

"Still, it's three maybe four hundred miles, round trip." Shisui suggested. "Maybe she got tired?" The healing of Itachi did leave some pretty nasty side effects, who was to say they weren't still an issue? "I give them until tomorrow or at the very least, give Kin a few more hours to find them."

"It would be advisable to get one of them a summoning contract to avoid more serious situations." Jiraiya mused with eyes deepening with thought above his scarlet streaked cheeks.

"Aa." Itachi was the first to agree and probably the first to have already considered this.

"Why doesn't Kagome-chan have a summons?" Sakura's eyes fluttered with a muddled thought. Kagome was in ANBU, wasn't it, sort of required by now? Even _she_ had a summoning contract along with Naruto. Granted Sasuke turned away from the idea when he discovered his teammates had the luck of getting paired with slugs and toads; but it still never occurred to her why Sasuke never vouched for a contract, _ever_?

"Sasuke…" Itachi suddenly spoke, his eyes on her and sending her chills, not the nice kind either. "…does not wish to share a contract." _With me._

Because most Uchiha who held a contract, were partnered with crows, the main branch being no exception. Sasuke would have been talked into it eventually, if not leaning towards some other avian familiar, like eagles with Shisui or doves like Yui, or hawks, ospreys, falcons, cranes, owls or kami forbid _vultures_. But no, Sasuke hated clichés or set expectations and he wouldn't fall into them.

"Yeah, but why doesn't Chibs have one?"

Jiraiya scratched his head. "Could be a lot of reasons, but we have more important things to dwell on, with this betrothal, the Kyuubi's imprinting, the power struggle between the Clans and don't forget the council, the girl will be torn apart if you all are not watchful."

Shisui and Sakura nodded simultaneously while Itachi remained darkly pensive.

"Until then, let's just take it one day at a time." Jiraiya reminded them. The politics surrounding this group was overwhelming. It wouldn't hurt to tag along for awhile and get some good research in or even simply see how it all played out.

"I wish Kagome-chan was here…" Sakura whined. "Then you could all shut up and she would deal with you."

…

A boy.

Somehow, he had needled his way through this winding mass of abandoned huts and scrambled into the most decrepit one of the lot. The skeleton of a dwelling, with gaping holes, its doorway and windowpanes stood on the very fringes of village. The stilts usually made for the frequent flash floods of Kawa were half collapsed, leaving the hut at an angle and giving the appearance of sinking into the mud, like a corpse into quicksand or a boat into water.

Kagome treaded softly, her presence was all but suppressed and her footfalls were silent despite the tumultuous earth. The fading light in the horizon was a pale blue-gold that was purpling with dusk and the lingering shadows were dark as her eyes sifted in between the twilight.

A boy. She was looking for a sick boy.

There was something, a gift of sorts,that she was able to give. A talent or skill she was able to perform.

Genjutsu was not just used for inflicting terrible illusions on one's enemies, no it had many other uses.

For the mind was boundless and the possibilities were limitless.

She remembered a time when that thought thrilled her, to hold a person's mind, the final frontier some would say, in her thrall, in her very grasp and be able to mold it, change it, warp it to do, think, say, see whatever she commanded.

In an illusion, she was a god.

Nowadays, that thought brought on a bitter numbness and a careless resentment. It was just the pointless fantasies of a little girl on a power trip right?

For all she knew, there were no gods, and she didn't really care anymore, Genjutsu didn't exist just as an idea or a dream did not.

Kagome sighed, after this, _after this_…

She just wanted to get _home._ After this, they would return back to Konoha and…

Her heart fluttered at the very thought of coming through the gates and bounding back to Itachi and Naruto and Shisui and Sakura and saying, _'I'm back, did you miss me?'_

And of course they would say, _'Yes, we did very much.'_

And _that_, that was all she cared about anymore. Not about illusions, or gods, or futures—

The rancid sweet rot choked her, snapping her out of her musings. The distinct smell of a corpse, of _death_, hit her heavily and coated her throat. Kagome felt bile rise in her throat—

She hated _this_.

She hated being away, so far from home, surrounded by sickness and death and despair. She hated being covered in mud and Kami knows what else and hated feeling blood crack on her and old sweat seep into her skin as it blistered and split and stung.

She hated this very house before her, so dark and full of death with twisted little corpses that she would have to pry a boy away from and tell him _it's okay_, when it's not and then lie to him… give him an illusion to soothe him, make a new world because this one was just too fucked up.

Kagome took a full hearty breath and nearly gagged from it, but with that full moment in her, she entered swiftly and pretended not to be hundreds of miles away from her friends…

_Friends?_

"W-Who are you?" A voice rasped as she never completed that thought.

Kagome's eyes adjusted quickly enough and sharpened at the heart wrenching sight. She tilted her head at the small boy, _small_ as in half her age and_ thin_ as a rail with ribs contracting underneath a dirty rag of a shirt. Her ears strained, and his breathing was not terminal.

_Just a single bone in the clay pot beating a muted death rattle_.

"Is that your sister?" she asked tenderly, her voice was pure. Not in the childish or cold tones it was inflecting lately but rather, her real voice, unguarded and _pure._ Simple.

The boy nodded furiously and she caught light of the crisscrossed silvery lines along his jaw line and cheeks and nose and eyelids… His face was heavily scarred.

And Kagome hoped that whoever did it had perished in the plague.

Kagome settled her eyes on the young toddler in the boys grasp. The young girl's hand was limp on the wooden floor and Kagome could see the flesh. It was emaciated and gray-green with death as it beared the telltale blackish pustules of plague-death.

"Imouto is very tired…" The boy rocked her, his spine arced and hunched over as she could only make out the scars of his hollowed face. "She needs her nap or she'll cry and otou-san hates it when she cries…"

Kagome stilled and with the subtlest of hand movements, she cloaked the entire room in a Genjutsu. It settled like a heavy fog and made the air hum slightly to its intensity. Kagome dipped her fingertips to test the veil. Her hand sign was casual, not fully formed. It didn't need to be.

It was solid and soon the boy would be within her thrall.

The boy didn't move.

Kagome stretched the shroud and enveloped the boy's own energies, intertwining and webbing over so that it would be as painless and comfortable as possible. His entire body and his immediate area were within her grasp in a matter moments.

She started with the first wave, the first layer, the conscious. A cool crisp image of the little girl, her face provided by his ebbing subconscious just beneath the surface. She fueled his senses, his feet sliding, padding on damp grass, his breaths tasting the sweet pollen-filled spring air, his nostrils inhaling the cool scent of a bubbling river that they used frequent often.

His sister chatting excitedly in baby talk, soft gurgles and babbles, she cooed at him playfully. She spoke, he understand most of it.

Second layer, she focused on the subconscious, forced upon it every positive emotion she could summon— minutely, it wavered, but only due to her own present conflictions. She threaded through him contentment and admiration. Love came from a deep source all on its own. If it was there, she never needed to convince the mind otherwise. Happiness, pure searing happiness was what usually tore apart the illusion. It was all too cruel to tease the heart of something it would never have and most minds saw through it or accepted it all too readily.

Third layer, she burrowed beyond the scene, the illusion of a spring morning next to a glistening river. She went to the core of the mind, or at least brushed against it. The dark recesses of the mind coincided with the ridiculous hopeful optimisms and fantastical dreams. It was the backbone to mind, the key to sanity. She instilled the thought process, the simple thought of _'let go, let go of me, nii-san.'_

And that thought surfaced through the primary illusion with a cheeky toddler saying those exact words.

"Are you going to heaven?" The boy asked suddenly.

Kagome barely skimmed the core once more, _'yes.'_

The illusion faded quickly enough as she felt herself pulled out of it as well. It was like surfacing from the bottom of the ocean, you wanted to breathe so desperately but you had to take your time, lest the target realize your thrashing and then, you both _drown_.

The boy slumped forward. Limp and arched painfully over the dead girl's corpse, she could no longer see his face, just the oily lump of hair sticking to his scalp and neck.

Kagome called out to the boy, but he didn't move. Strange, it wasn't the type of illusion to render one unconscious. She hadn't tampered with anything vital.

Kagome walked forward but stilled when a sudden moaning elicited from the boy. "Are you alright?" She took another step, the boy's guttural whines didn't resemble crying.

It was when Kagome was breaths away did she notice the distinct sound of hissing.

_What the—?_

The boy's neck snapped up and with eyes white, rolled back into his skull he let out a scream.

But it was far from natural.

Kagome felt her ears _break._

Her left one in particular was still tender. A loud _snap _was heard and then all sound went out of the world save for the sharp ringing.

Kagome fell to her knees, eyes straining to keep focused on the screeching boy as she felt warm liquid ooze from her ears and down her neck.

_This isn't happening—_

She worked frantically to stem the blood flow, but it wouldn't stop and made her hands come back a gory trembling mess.

—_isn't happening._ No one bled this much.

Everything was more exaggerated when there was no sound, the way the boy's neck craned with veins convulsed and how he contorted backwards to look at her—

She couldn't move, the pain between her skull was too much…

With black teeth he smiled and began _talking_…

She couldn't hear. Only watched helplessly as his lips formed a stream of words that intensified into ugly accusations of something.

The next moment the boy was backwards, he was also now climbing on the walls, still screaming but she could only watch as he skittered about the ceiling above her.

He screeched and then laughed with white eyes rolling back into skull.

Kagome watched as the little creature leapt from the ceiling and pounced on her.

It was when she felt his little sticky hands around her throat—

_Itachi, help…_

That everything went black.

…

"_Kagome-sama."_

She was floating—

_Don't fall in again, Kagome… you can only fall so many times before you truly drown._

—above her body. She could see someone, shaking her little shoulders, her cheeks pallid, and her eyes open-

"Kagome-sama!"

Staring right back at her, were _her_ eyes. Tumultuous currents siftings with grey-blue irises, but they were dead, dull and staring back at her.

She _was_ dead.

Her body mouthed a word, with lips cold-white. A single word, the one the boy, the _creature _had said over and _over _again.

'_**Mi-ko.'**_

Kagome screamed—

Kagome awoke with a gasp.

"Taichou?"

Neji's eyes were pallid, _white_—

Kagome rolled over on wood coughing, her body wracked with a sudden heaviness and was permeated with a deep aching in her chest. The scent of rotting flesh was suffocating as ever, it was when Kagome began to claw at her throat did to Neji stop her. "Kagome-sama—"

"You?" She rolled over on her back, where Neji was hovering over with opalescent eyes glistening even in the pitch black. "Why… Why did you call me that?"

Neji's face muddled. "It is a habit… I apologize if I startled you, I—" He'd always called Hinata and every other main branch with that title, it just came out.

Kagome shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's just a name." With a very formal honorific at the end.

"Your heart stopped." Neji suddenly admitted. "Just for a moment-" Maybe not even that, but his Byakugan had watched as it ceased its endless beat, its life-giving tremor.

Kagome sat up and Neji rescinded in the same movement. "Most likely a fibrillation of some sort." But she wouldn't dwell on it, there was no way Sasuke's Lightning had just shorted out her heart out, hours after a very _minor _electrocution. _What just happened? _It was like a nightmare—

Kagome's hand immediately jumped to her ear, _nothing_. _No blood._

"What is the matter?" Neji pried, his eyes studying her.

"I can hear you?" She gasped. Hadn't her- hadn't _he_, that boy, that _thing_ hadn't _it_… ruptured both of her eardrums?

"I would assume so." Neji crossed his arms rigidly.

_There's no blood. _Kagome's hand coiled around her earlobe, deftly plucking at the soft flesh. Kagome nearly felt her heart stop again, when she realized another thing… "My hand." She gasped with eyes wide as she brought the near immaculate appendage to her face.

Save for the tattered cloth of her bodysuit, it was bone-white and just as deftly tapered and willowy as ever. Not even a scar. From what she remembered third degree burns from a _Goryuuka no Jutsu_ did _**not**_leave you _unscarred_.

"Neji, look at this," she ordered harshly but Neji was already looking.

"That is… " He couldn't finish, he knew about her sudden healing, but this was unprecedented.

"—impossible," she supplemented. "Where's the boy?" She stiffened for an attack.

Neji's silent eyes flicked over to the corner—

In the exact same spot she had found him, in the exact same posture, cradling his sister, sat the boy in the corner. Unmoved, untouched, unchanged…

The only difference was…

"It is unfortunate, but the disease claimed him." Neji inflected solemnly.

He was dead.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Training wheels are off guys, no Update Schedule. _For now._

**Next Chapter: **Killing demons is anything but simple, especially when you don't remember how or what you did. But as Sasuke is rooted to the clinic Kagome and Neji embark on startling revelations and with the village lunatic no less. When the terms 'miko' and 'youkai' become commonplace, one can long for something familiar, especially when Sasuke is puking his guts out and having a mental break down. But Kagome can't wait, because there's only one person waiting for her at the gates of Konoha and both are little too eager to see each other. And I quote, "Kissing? Since when the fuck is there _kissing_?" and Shisui wasn't the only one to bear witness. We get into the nitty-gritty with a nice dollop of fluff at the end, until next time!

* * *

_**No Update Schedule, please see profile for details**_


	19. Ice In My Blood

**Author's Note:** All flashbacks will be postponed and will be written in a really long one-shot at a later date. Your patience is appreciated. Oh and this is my early Christmas gift to all of you. If you don't celebrate Christmas then _Happy Holidays!_

_

* * *

_

**-Chapter Nineteen-**

Ice In My Blood

* * *

_when a soul dies, it's silent and cold_

_before that, it holds on weakly_

_little tethers wear out eventually, leaving us_

_to pick up the shattered pieces, _

_we still haven't forgiven her—_

* * *

She hadn't spoken since.

Not with visions of an emaciated child, white eyes, black teeth, _screaming_—

No, not with those images, crossing her mind and throttling her slim throat into paralyzed silence. Neji quickly followed suit and didn't utter a word about anything he had previously witnessed. It wasn't his place. His Captain knew what to do, and she would act accordingly.

Kagome brought her knees to her chest as she stared at the blazing hearth. The problem was, she didn't know a _thing._

Or did she?

She quelled that thought instantly. Brooding silence was something she conveyed easily as she waited with Neji outside the Clinic tent. They were among a few survivors, the few who were up and able.

A few rabbits roasted on a spit along with a duck; the fats of meat bristled and bubbled to the surface with soft pops from the heat. After the past thirty-six hours of living on nothing but rations, the aroma was intoxicating; even the famously regal Hyuuga Neji was eyeing the duck with a rather eagerly trained eye.

Kagome, however, felt as if her stomach had shriveled up and died. So she waited silently, her eyes enraptured with the tossing flames rather than the roasting meat.

A few men spoke, somberly, seriously. The quiet was too heavy, too thick to even breathe. Everyone that was huddled around this fire had survived, but that didn't change the fact that_ everyone_ had lost _someone._

There weren't any children to speak of; most were still in the makeshift Clinic, being watched over with a scrutiny that went well beyond the call of duty. After Eri, Ayumi and Yuka had seen her come back empty-handed, they deduced that no child was fit to be released from their care. Kagome vaguely recalled Neji informing them of the child's death in swift murmurs before placing her beside the fire.

Kagome achingly rubbed her shoulders as her arms crossed over her knees. It was bitterly cold in this country, and the storm Sasuke had conjured earlier had made it even worse.

"You in ANBU?" A gruff voice broke across the fire pit.

Kagome looked up and saw a rough looking man, with sharp, hawk-like brown eyes. "Yes."

"How old are you?" It sounded like an accusation.

Kagome blinked. "Twelve."

A ripple of murmurs was her response, just as another man, younger, but sickly thin with a sallow complexion cut in. "I had a boy who was your age."

Kagome gave muttered condolences before looking back down again.

"Yeah, that is until you ANBU came in and said he was beyond hope and couldn't be _salvaged_." His voice held a boiling venom.

_Kage's words… not mine. _"That wasn't my call_," _she amended.

"Well, he's still dead!" The man stood abruptly, and immediately his fellow countrymen sprung up to try and placate him.

Kagome didn't flinch, but she felt Neji stiffen and somewhat position himself between them.

The man was dragged away, screaming obscenities as he called her a murderer. When he was properly detained, a few came back sporting nasty glares and huffing breaths that suggested a scuffle.

Their whispers could be heard a mile away, and she always had sharp ears.

"She's little, but the huntin' party saw the rip in the earth a few kilometers off—"

"You saw that storm, the Uchiha boy brought down 'nough lightnin' to split the sky—"

"They sliced each other good I heard and then went about their business, bat-shit crazy ANBU love a fight even if it's with their own."

"Now them boy's dead and we're supposed to just keep quiet about it?"

"What you gonna do? Challenge her? Look at her eyes, they're like thrashin' oceans with blades. Them kind are for illusions that leave you screaming mad the rest of your days…"

"She didn't get in ANBU at that age for nothin'. Keep your head down and maybe she won't slit your throat with the very air you breathe."

Kagome felt her body cave in on itself. It was always the same. She was a monster in their eyes. Kagome shivered, and it was when Neji suddenly stood that she felt the warm hand on her back.

Kagome sent a sidelong glance to the elderly woman, with a face as wrinkled as a dead brown leaf.

The woman's cloudy eyes and smile lines strained with warmth. "Don't fret, dear, people always act out in grief."

"I'm fine." Kagome defended suddenly. She wasn't just some little girl.

The woman smiled, fire-lit shadows dancing across her wrinkles. "No, you're not, I can see it in your eyes, dear. Did that _kappa_ scare you that bad?"

Kagome felt a chill run through her veins. _Kappa?_

"Shut up, baa-san," a man groaned from across the fire light. "Nobody wants to hear your ghost stories."

"Oh, hush, thanks to this girl that little sprite won't be eating any more children." The woman proclaimed. "She killed it, exorcised it from the earth, chased it away from this plane."

A few men grumbled. "Ignore her, she's hasn't been in the rights of minds since her husband passed," one man apologized. "Don't take offense… _we_ mean no offense."

But Kagome was already standing. "Can I… speak to you alone?" She asked hesitantly, ignoring the heavy stares and the stunned silence that followed. The elderly woman was small with a hunched back and milky eyes; she nearly skipped away with Kagome in tow.

Kagome sent a pleading look over to Neji, who nodded and simply watched her slip into the dark.

They walked past a few more campfires, each sporting a good array of fowl and varmint. Even with the drastically thinned population it was still a measly catch to feed, especially since there weren't that many who were able to hunt yet.

Kagome ensconced around the Med tent, which glowed like a lantern with its thin canvas and bright surgical lights, as shadows of figures moved from within.

It was when they were completely out of earshot and away from prying eyes did the elderly woman pause and turn back around to Kagome.

"What's your name?" Kagome asked, the question tumbled from her lips greedily and she felt her chest swell with hope. Answers, the Kami had finally appealed to her, she would have answers at long last.

"No one that you would know, dear." The woman shivered back into her shawl and Kagome realized that finally someone who was (much) older than she was, was actually _shorter._ "I'll only disappoint you, if I answer."

Kagome stiffened. "How…how do you know that?" It came out a bit snappishly. Was she expecting a certain name? Of course she was, but which?

There were so many names…

"You have that_ lost_ look in your eyes, one that only those who are searching for something or _someone _have, ones' with little past and memories." The elderly woman breathed and the air clung to it, a soft mist hung before their lips. "What is yours?"

"Kagome," she said suddenly.

The woman blinked, unplaced, almost dazedly. "Oh, that's… pretty."

Kagome's nose wrinkled. It wasn't common, but she didn't have to act like it was completely foreign. "Like the game," she quickly added. "You know, Kagome, Kagome…" She prodded the woman verbally, she wanted _answers_… to something, anything, she _needed _them.

"Yes, I know, dear." The woman remained pensive.

A silence filled with cricket-song and the always distant murmur of rivers followed. The moon was an oblong oval above them, casting a silvery light that clung to the earth like a gossamer veil of snow.

"What did you mean about the… _kappa_?" Kagome asked finally.

The woman got a devious look in her fading eyes. "Oh, but you know the legends of the kappa, ne?"

"Water sprites that eat children?" They were a commonplace in rural folklore. Of course she had entertained the idea when Shikaku used to tell her, back in simpler times, every legend and ghost story he had heard just to see her scared. But she never became frightened. They always excited her, and were probably the first hint Shikaku received that she wasn't exactly… _normal_. Kappa tended to drown those who trespassed and could be only be placated by… _cucumbers._ It was an odd legend, and she discredited it immediately. Who was to say a vegetable tasted better than the flesh of a human child?

And this was Kawa no Kuni, the land of rivers and streams. It was a common staple here, the insidious legends of the little demons.

"Sprites, phantoms, spirits, demons, imps, ogres, fiends… those are all pretty names, but a kappa is simply a _youkai,_ alesser one at that; but still dangerous nonetheless. It's amazing that you were able to discern the demon so easily."

"I—I…I didn't _do_ anything." Kagome eyes fluttered rapidly, her breath caught. "The boy, he just attacked me and then… he was dead."

"No, dear, you did something only those pure of heart can accomplish. Do not feel guilt over the boy, he had long been dead and the weaker youkai was able to burrow in and eat him from the inside out— _are you alright?"_

Kagome shook her head. "I think I'm going to be sick…" She doubled over and placed a hand over her lips. Very _vivid_ images crossed her mind and the only thing keeping her from heaving up was the fact that her stomach was very much _empty._

"Easy there, demon possession is a nasty bit when it comes to lesser youkai. Usually kappas don't, but this one must have wanted something…" Her hint was clear. "It lured you away, didn't it?"

Kagome stilled. Had it? She merely sought the boy out to try and soothe his anxiety of losing his little sister. Kagome felt a white-hot heat boil in her gut. Had that little demon really gotten one over her? "How did I kill it?" she asked seriously, eyes cold. She needed to learn how to control this power inside of her. First Itachi and now _this_? It was harmful, she nearly blinded Itachi and now had inadvertently killed a demon? Yet it healed Itachi and probably helped the boy's soul pass on.

The woman shrugged with a cackle, "There are as many ways to slay a demon as there are to kill a man."

"Yes, but do you have any idea on what _I_ did?" Kagome pressed. "It called me a miko, a shrine maiden? That makes no sense."

"Pure of heart, of soul… you should be able to figure it out eventually." The woman turned her back on her suddenly. "Goodbye, little miko."

"Wait!" Kagome called out, but she couldn't bring herself to follow. The woman knew nothing of her past, only of myths and legends. Whatever answers she wanted, she would have to find them herself. They were all right there, _inside_, just beneath the surface, she just needed to dig them out from within herself.

She just wasn't so sure that she wanted to.

…

Neji watched the embers come to an angry red-orange as the meat began to simmer. Was it prudent to just serve oneself or did he have to wait?

A throat cleared and he realized everyone huddled around the flame was glaring at him. Maybe they didn't feel it necessary to spare a leg or wing of that tantalizing duck, to a foreign shinobi who belonged to the same group that sanctioned the death of their loved ones?

A few angry whispers hissed between the men. Neji caught wind of how they couldn't believe the Uchiha had summoned such a violent storm or how the little girl ripped apart the earth several meters deep and now they regarded _him_, the pensive Hyuuga with caution. He hadn't spoken a word, and they easily declared him as the most dangerous of the bunch for his coldness.

Apparently his teammate's little battle arena hadn't gone unnoticed when the hunters had been sent out.

Which meant the Hokage would hear about it.

Neji groaned internally. Another dilemma. This simple routine mission had gotten so very complex, it made a stubborn knot beat between his temples.

Feeling as if he was fated to have another dinner of rations rather than succulent duck, Neji stood, appraised them all with a cold glance and then stalked away to the Clinic.

On his way, he caught a slim dark figure in his peripheral.

Kagome's feet dragged, her hooded eyes were contemplative and heavily draped in her thick lashes.

"Kagome-sama," he called out suddenly, earning her startled attention.

Kagome blinked and tilted her head at him with a slightly piqued expression. "You're going to keep on calling me that, aren't you?" She questioned bemusedly as she sauntered on over to him.

"It is just a name," he stated coolly.

She sighed. "As is my moniker, _Yamaneko_." She reminded tersely, or he could end her name with _taicho _like every other normal ANBU subordinate.

"It is just a mask." There was a double meaning in his words. "Is it disrespectful to do so?"

It wasn't breach of conduct. Technically. "No," she conceded finally, not really caring either way. She had larger problems at the moment. "Is he still in there?" Kagome realized Sasuke had been under the Med-nin's care for a few hours now, and finally brought it upon herself to check and see what was taking so long.

Neji nodded, "I was going to garner some supplies before turning in for the night."

Translation: I was going to steal Uchiha's rations while he was wounded.

Kagome sent a long look over to the fire. "You weren't going to take their food, were you?"

Translation: You were going to swipe that duck from those starving and sick villagers too?

Neji immediately stiffened and he nearly huffed at her accusation. "Of course not." It wasn't his fault, they'd been going since before dawn with little to nothing to eat. A soldier pill was keeping him standing, but it didn't abate the hunger.

Kagome shrugged. "It's fine, but before we leave tomorrow, we should help out with the hunting." It only seemed right; this village was heavily crippled with the untended crops and soon-to-be burned houses. Their main export had been obliterated along with no one able to work. Food would be scarce and any funds of support would be out of the question without some financial aid from their country.

But Kawa no Kuni wasn't exactly known for its wealth, so Konoha would have to step in once again and aid in another country's dilemmas.

Kagome flipped the canvas flap of the tent open and immediately felt her eyes ache from the harshness of the lights. Neji followed in her wake and after a brief moment of their eyes readjusting, caught sight of Sasuke reverently sitting upright on a flimsy gurney off to the side. His eyes were already on them.

Kagome and Neji needled their way through the other patients, some on the floor with tattered blankets as they groaned from senseless shivers. But Kagome kept her eyes trained on the Uchiha, who wore an utterly blank countenance with brooding eyes, dark and irritable. "I heard," he responded to her rapid approach, with eyes following her every movement.

Kagome flanked beside his thighs as she thrummed her fingers on the metal rail. "About?" she asked lightly, her gaze barely appraising his face.

Sasuke paused, studying her. "The boy," he prodded. Wasn't she usually… _sensitive_ to these types of things?

Neji leaned against a support rod of the tent as he surveyed the sick patients and kept his eyes on all points of entry, along with keeping his teammates within his peripheral. "The local healer proclaimed he was possessed by a demon," Neji inflected flatly.

"What?" Sasuke clipped, his gaze hard on her.

"She's not rational," Kagome explained swiftly. "The boy was dead by the time I arrived."

Sasuke stared at her, his eyes ominously deep with thought and fleeting suspicion, they bore into her from beneath his dark bangs. Kagome could barely discern his pupils at that moment. "Are you alright?" His voice held a deep rasp to it.

"I don't wish to dwell on it," she replied quietly, eyes down and hooded. "How is your healing?"

Sasuke gave a nonchalant grunt, which meant it wasn't meeting his expectations.

Just then, Eri ambled on in with a slight tune to hum to and a large platter of something steaming on a bed of rice and a syrupy concoction of hot fruit drizzled on top. "Sasuke-kun! _Dinner!"_ She held up the plate triumphantly but deflated slightly at the sight of Kagome and Neji. "Ah, Kagome-chan…what are you doing here?" She averted her gaze guiltily.

"Where did you get that?" Kagome inquired sharply.

"Villagers gave it to me. After all, we did heal them and save their lives," Eri snubbed as she strolled on over to Sasuke's bedside and plopped the steaming platter onto his lap. "There ya go," she chimed merrily and turned over to Kagome. "Why, they not give you any?"

"They nearly wanted to have me hung." Kagome informed her heatedly, eyes straying over the freshly roasted meat. Somehow the prospect of taking donations sat better with her stomach than scavenging around their campfire.

"Oh, yeah, after what Kage did they hate all ANBU right now. They hope you all starve." Eri took a bite of a plum that had materialized in her grasp. "But not us Med-nin. They gave Yuka a whole vat of fruit and Ayumi a couple of live chickens when she refused the goat."

"Is that duck?" Neji took an unconscious step forward towards Sasuke, who was analyzing _how_ to eat the bird with his bare hands.

"Possibly," Sasuke replied flatly, obviously not intending on sharing his meal with his near ravenous teammate.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're sharing that duck and that's a direct order." Kagome crossed her arms and sent him a nasty little glare.

Sasuke raised a brow at her sudden abrasiveness but with a slight hand movement, fluidly gestured to the food. He hadn't said that _she_ couldn't have any.

Kagome huffed and in one movement, hopped up on the side of the gurney and sat. With eager little fingers Kagome tore through the fatty skin to get to the oily dark meat of the fowl. She plopped it between her lips quickly enough and swallowed before helping herself once again.

Neji shuffled on his feet and cleared his throat.

Kagome blinked at the Hyuuga as she licked her fingers. "What?" Everyone was staring at her. _Oh, for Kami's sake…_ She rolled her eyes, picked up the plate and held it out to Neji. "Eat," she ordered.

Neji hesitated, slightly because he didn't have the proper utensils, but then, he deftly dislocated a leg out of its joint and plucked at the meat nimbly with his fingertips.

Kagome sat it back down on Sasuke's lap and sent him a look as her teeth sunk into a wing. _"Wha?"_ She questioned, mouth full of food.

"Your hand is healed." Sasuke pointed out rhythmically.

Kagome blinked, swallowed and then shrugged. "I heal fast," she supplemented.

Eri's brow knitted. "Kagome-chan, there's no way—"

"I learned healing Ninjutsu," she explained rashly.

"From who?" Sasuke's tone drawled in an accusing tenor. At the very least, his Goryuuka would have left blisters…

"Sakura," Kagome quipped as she took another bite.

"When?" Sasuke pried again, his voice resonating deeply.

"When you weren't looking." And the look she sent his way was icy, in the clear message of _later, we'll talk later._

"I—"

"Drop it," she finally snapped when he opened his mouth to question again.

Eri shifted under the impressionable silence. It was nerve wracking when people didn't talk and this group made it all the more uncomfortable. "Speaking of which…" she began, earning Kagome's attention. "Sasuke-kun's healing is not going as well as planned..."

Sasuke let a very audible breath pass through his nostrils.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked hesitantly, ready to stuff a wing in the Uchiha's mouth if he interrupted.

"It's taking a bit longer than usual to heal the tendons you severed, Kagome-chan. Did you perhaps use any toxin to slow—"

"No," Kagome answered frostily. "Besides to sedate him earlier, but that would not have hindered the healing process…" Her eyes were muddled with confusion.

"You poisoned me?" Sasuke immediately bristled.

Kagome waved a hand at him to hush as she focused in on Eri. "Shut up for a second." He was the last thing she wanted to deal with right now.

Those words alone did it. Uchiha Sasuke crossed his arms and glared, he was _pissed._

"How much longer are we talking about?"

"So far?" Eri asked. "Nearly three times the usual amount of time and chakra to heal, and it's still not fully formed. The tissue is soft and very delicate at the moment."

"Will he be able to travel tomorrow?" Kagome pressed, eyes wide and pale. Another unexplained incident caused by her, _again._

Eri felt the heavy weight of their gazes. "Can I talk to you alone?" she asked tentatively.

Kagome nodded and in a matter of breaths, before either Uchiha or Hyuuga could protest, they were out of the Med tent and into the chilly night once more.

Eri turned to Kagome once they were a good ways away from the pavilion. "Depends on tonight, if the chakra does not take, then no, he won't even be able to walk tomorrow let alone run hundreds of miles..."

Kagome crossed her arms against the chill and let her breath hang in the air in slight fog from her lips. "The chakra won't take?" she asked finally, finding the terminology foreign.

"It's… repelling it, like a poison that hinders cell regeneration but also coats the severed tissue so that our chakra is not absorbed into it." Eri sighed, each of their breaths clung to air in hot puffs. "It's very frustrating to say the least. Whatever you did, Kagome, it's done a number on his body, his chakra isn't regenerating normally and his Sharingan pains him to activate."

"He didn't tell me that…" Kagome whispered, more to herself; because even though he really hadn't had the chance, there was no way Sasuke _would _have told her anyways.

"That's why I decided to speak to you in private before he stopped me…" Eri blushed heatedly. One command from Uchiha Sasuke and his presence alone might actually have swayed her not to. "It's somewhat similar to _last time_…"

_Last time?_

Eri was referring to her remarkable healing after she went AWOL.

_Oh, that last time…_

It _was_ Eri, Ayumi and Yuka who had tended to her in the hospital and then sworn to secrecy about the whole ordeal. They had watched firsthand how her body recovered miraculously and how it was deemed confidential. "What makes you say that?" she asked breathily.

"Because the energy marker is the same," Eri informed her solemnly. "I didn't know it was destructive."

"It's not," Kagome said defensively. She didn't know that, but it wasn't evil. She knew that much.

"Has it acted up before this?"

_Healing Itachi. Nearly blinding Itachi. Killing a demon a few hours prior. _"No." Was it really acting up more? Her hand had healed quickly, but that was normal for _her,_ right? It just happened a bit more quickly and there was absolutely no blood… could it really even get rid of blood too?

Eri regarded her cautiously, a distance growing in her eyes. "Well, Kagome-chan, I'm sure you've surmised this already, but from what we measured a few months prior to its current levels…"

"What?" Kagome felt her chest plummet. She wasn't going to like this, was she?

"It's getting stronger."

…

The chill in the air had settled bitterly into her bones, and even with her ribs and hands rescinding back in tremors and shivers, she still couldn't scrape any more warmth out of her cloak. It was like ice had been poured through her blood.

She and Neji had been doing their rounds of the village for a few hours now, not a necessity but still recommended, especially with one teammate out of commission. The bamboo ahead wafted and creaked in the winds, teasing the moon.

It hung low in the sky this time at night with every fire either extinguished or faintly glowing with embers. The village was deathly silent. Crickets and the soft babble of river water on moss-rocks could be heard throughout, but it still didn't stifle the deafening silence that emanated from the pit of death that was once called a village. It was a blot on the earth now, with its last vestiges of denizens in a troubled sleep over the happenings of the past days.

Kagome trotted along the rim of houses, Neji took south-side, where the boy now lay rotting with his dead little sister. She happily avoided it as she took her patrol a few meters out, keeping a tight barrier between the village and anything else that may want to take advantage of a bad situation.

Up ahead, was the fork of the brook that trickled through the village, the overlap of their patrol, which in most cases created a blind spot but not when you had a Hyuuga seeing out miles around.

Kagome slowed her light dash and flickered onto higher ground, amidst a raised, muddied boulder that was as good a meeting spot as any other.

Neji was slightly behind by a few minutes, and with each passing moment, her fingers strained closer and closer along the sheath of her wakizashi.

It was only when she saw the familiar milky-white glimmer in the distance did she still her ministrations on her short sword. "_Tsuru_," she greeted curtly. Neji flitted before her in the next second.

His eyes gleamed from beneath his mask. "A few villagers were loitering in the woods," he explained fluidly, walking in strong strides to stand beside her on the outcropping.

She nodded. "I don't want them out at night, nuke-nin are always swarming when carcasses rot and people become desperate." Kagome bit in the quaking of her limbs with a harsh breath.

"Are you alright?" He inquired politely.

She brushed him off. "It's just unnaturally cold for this time of year."

Neji's Byakugan was leveling her with a studied glance. "Your body is struggling to maintain body heat," he observed quietly as he watched her heart thud desperately inside her ribs and her muscles shiver in quick contractions to produce the small desperate bursts of heat. "That is… unnatural, considering that you just ate." Her metabolism should be doing its job and spreading that energy out now.

Kagome shivered again. "Yes, well, don't mention it to Sasuke or anyone else. I have a feeling my body is still trying to catch up after what happened earlier."

"You're referring to the boy."

Kagome nodded. "You said my heart stopped?" It wasn't a question, and her eyes were miles off on the dark star-laced horizon.

"Briefly, yes."

There was a heavy breath. "Did you see anything else? Did you… hear anything or notice if the boy was alive?"

"He was dead by the time I arrived, his internal organs even showed heavy signs of decay…" He wouldn't go into detail about how the young child's innards were practically liquefied and looking as if he had been eaten from the inside out.

"He had been dead for _days_." Kagome stated solemnly. "I know that much now."

"I wouldn't succumb to the superstitions of—" _An old delusional woman. _

"Neji." Her voice was grating. "I don't want to hear it."

He nodded. "Of course."

Kagome fidgeted, each searching out into the night with Neji being the only one able to see past the mere meters Kagome's vision could only guess at. Rabbits jostled about as a snake slipped in between twisted tree roots, and slithered up to the sleeping rabbit pups who gave little noises when swallowed alive.

"Neji?"

"Hai, Kagome-sama?"

There a pause. "I think I'm dying."

Of all the people she could tell and shouldn't, she chose _him _to say it to. "Why are you telling me this?"

Kagome shrugged. "Because you're the only one who won't react… _horribly_." She winced, her eyes wilting.

"Is that what Uchiha was demanding to know the other night?"

Flashes of a previous night with Sasuke standing over her and demanding answers of what she remembered… she, putting up a useless fight, nothing was just as simple as _remembering_…

"No. Sasuke wants to know of my past… they all do. They seem to think it will unlock answers…"

"Will it?"

Kagome sighed. "No, it will only open up more questions… questions that will frighten them."

"I've never been known for my outspokenness, Kagome-sama." Neji informed her softly.

Kagome felt a smile twitch at her lips as she glanced up. "Arigato, Neji." She replied, just as quiet. His offer was simple, an unbiased listener, one that would never speak of what they discussed or act on it. "I might just need someone to talk to from time to time…" Considering Itachi had gone to the Hokage at the first chance he got.

Now that was still a bitter wound, one that she would spend a while licking at to heal.

"You believe the boy was possessed by a demon?" Neji questioned dryly.

Kagome shrugged. "It is possible, especially when he had apparently been dead for days, and yet had been seen walking around. Though, I do not know for certain… all I know is that I killed whatever was inside of him."

"That would explain the fluctuation."

Kagome kneeled against the cool and damp carpeted stone and plucked at the moss. "What fluctuation?"

"Not only did your heart cease for a moment, Kagome-sama, but your signature vanished," he informed her smoothly. "The air, the natural energies shifted, stilled… for but a moment." The fluctuation had sent a chill through the air that still had yet to leave this place.

Kagome settled into a silence, it seeped into her body as she stooped lower and felt the weight of the moonlight on her back. "Neji?" she asked timidly.

"Hai, Kagome-sama?"

"What do you believe... about souls?"

Neji brooded for a moment, his insipid eyes dipping down to the cloaked girl who looked a tissue-paper doll with a porcelain mask. "That is a rather broad topic of discussion, Kagome-sama."

"I know, but… do you think that… one can leave a body?"

"Is that not death?"

"Eventually, yes… but… I don't know… it's just… I used to think that I was only capable of healing," she glanced up at Neji, his eyes shiny pearls in the night with a halo of clouded stars. "I healed Uchiha Itachi a few days ago, he should've died and then… the next time I touched him, I was so _angry_… so angry that I gave a part of myself… _to him_, so selflessly and completely, that it nearly left me empty…all so that I could preserve his life and yet… he went behind my back, thought he knew better, arrogant bastard, and… then, I wanted it back, for one _second_ I wanted it back and then…" She looked up to him, eyes gaping, with pupils wide as bottomless pits with the darkness and rimmed blue. "And then, I nearly blinded him." She finished simply.

The silence that followed was flat and expressionless.

"You think this stems from your soul." Neji intoned reflectively.

"I don't think, I _know_." She advocated. "It's too deep to be anything else…I feel it, it's too large, too overwhelming, I feel like I'm drowning, and its ties to my body are thinning by the day… when that boy died, I was outside, hovering like a ghost and I swore I would have died right then if… if you had not come."

"Out of body experiences have been recorded by those who delve too deeply during meditations. My Clan has archives of our ancestors traveling outside of their bodies, from great distances to simply walking around rooms, Kagome-sama." He reassured her. "It is a natural occurrence."

Kagome shook her head. "I did something…" She held up a tapered hand into the thinning moonlight. "I've never healed so fast before… with Itachi I felt overwhelmed and _empty _but I never… I never felt as if I was in danger, this time though, I felt as if I was ripped from body, as if those thin threads holding me down had snapped and I was going… to disappear."

Neji said nothing for a long while. "You believe your soul will eventually leave your body, then?"

Kagome nodded. "I believe the demon tried to rip me out, it wanted something but then… whatever happened, I simply… made the… _youkai_ disappear. It was like wishing him away." Just as when she wished to take back from Itachi, she did it. It was too easy, all she had to do was will it and it manifested. She willed for that evil presence, not just to stop or go away or to die… She wished it never existed, willed it to be gone from the face of the earth and its existence never to be known.

And that was exactly what happened.

Except the boy died, just as Itachi's eyes nearly were irreparably damaged, there was too much power at her fingertips… beyond that, it was too much power for but a half a thought.

"It's too much… and…" Her body, her mortal shell was too small to begin with, it couldn't hold out. She was thinning, graying out as if_ she_ had never existed. "And it's killing me." There was no waver in her voice, she knew it with every fiber of her being. There was something deep in every being that told them when they were dying. "That's why I can't tell them… any of them, if they knew even half of what—"

'_You have no idea how bad it really is… that's what I know. I know… and I'm terrified of it.' Kagome's eyes were wide and she was trembling. 'You have no idea… absolutely no fucking idea.'_

"What will you do?" Neji asked when her voice constricted tightly and she could not speak.

Kagome looked up and said with a wan smile, "The only the thing I can do… _wait."_

Neji nodded. "I will be here. _We _will all be here."

Kagome smiled sadly. "That's what I'm afraid of."

…

Crisply before dawn, with a misty grey-blue light dusting over Kawa no Kuni, Kagome slipped into the tent. Everything was so still as if the world held its breath right at the cusp, the precipice, the moment before dawn.

She walked silently over the rasping lumps of flesh that were the last of the sick, and eventually sidled up along a sleeping Sasuke.

For a shinobi, he was an unnaturally heavy sleeper.

'_The only the thing I can do… wait.'_

But as Neji pointed out, she didn't have to.

_Have you tried controlling it?_

No.

_You are a master of Genjutsu, a simple meditation is barely an effort. _

I don't even know where to start.

_Maybe you should just __**try**__._

Drawing from pure willpower of the soul would be a tenuous thing to control, but if she _did_, it would mean a great many things. Along with all the power and possibilities it reaped at her disposal, at her very _command._

She scarcely let her eyes skim Sasuke's countenance that took on a boyish look with sleep. As dark bangs stuck to his forehead, a light sheen of cool sweat settled on his cheeks, he looked almost sick.

Maybe in some way, he was.

She did, after all, do _something_ to make his whole body reject healing and even his own bloodline limit be painful.

Kagome set to work, her hands hovering over his bound and rebound feet, the bandages were still weeping with fresh blood at the heels and flecking through. With a final breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated.

It was disturbing how easy it was.

Immediately she found the source, deep within, and she was thankful that meditation was practically instantaneous to her by now.

It was but the tiniest wisp of light in a endless cavern.

She reached out and grabbed it, but it evaded her, slipped through her fingertips like air but felt more like mixed water and silk. It hummed to her slightest touch and licked at her with a kind mewl to its wielder.

_Pink._

Shell-pink, like a fresh newborn or dawn-lit clouds… no, it was _pale_ like an old, brittle sakura blossom.

_Ancient._

"Come here," she said to it, but it was already in her palm before she even uttered the words. Her voice echoed and held dominion over this space. It nestled in her palm like a pearl, pink and pretty as a new little egg, it rolled around and glowed softly, lambently, _purely._

It wasn't solid, not yet.

It was but a spirit, but a fraction of what was _inside_ her.

_Just a little._ She commanded and it sung with a whine and her power obeyed…

She felt her chest hollow out as it flew forth and disappeared into the darkness.

Kagome's eyes snapped open, her breath caught and she coughed. She'd been holding her breath unconsciously, for Kami knows how long…

"Kagome."

Their eyes met, and Kagome immediately looked away. Sasuke's gaze was always questioning, always wanting to know more… couldn't he just be satisfied with her now?

Kagome fiddled with the tattered remains of her sleeve, it was ripped clear up to her elbow. "Our patrol is over, the hunting party went out and sentries have been posted…"

Sasuke said nothing; only stared, eyes black and half-lidded.

Kagome sent one glance back at his bound feet. There was no indication of healing… In fact, blood was dripping freely now.

She felt her chest plummet to her feet with the realization that she might have made it _worse._

Maybe it was the last bits of sleep or the fact that she looked like she was about to fall on her own sword in some sort of guilt, but Sasuke couldn't help it—

He wanted her _close._

He wanted her close to him, so she wouldn't fall apart and if she did, he could hold her together in crumbling pieces.

"Come here," his voice rasped with sleep as he shuffled to the side.

She barely needed any beckoning and burrowed beside Sasuke's beating ribs, warm and whole around her tucked-in frame. She was so cold.

Sasuke kept an arm slung around her slim shoulders as she rested in the crook of his armpit. She was like ice, she _felt _like ice and was shivering like it had crusted over her very veins and invaded her lungs.

Kagome breathed in, burying her cold hands under his ribs and leeching off the heat that radiated off of him. "Sasuke…?"

"Hm?" He grunted into her, his chin resting solidly on her head. There was peace and _nothing_ could ruin this moment…

"You need deodorant."

_Ugh. _

"…I know, Kagome."

Maybe _that_ could.

…

Daybreak gave little reprieve, especially when you were trying to track down _three_ ANBU who traveled faster than a jack rabbit escaping a fox.

And from the scent pooling in that gully he had passed earlier last night, with the caved-in house in between the dewy knolls, it was easily assumed that the newly formed squad had taken shelter there the previous.

The foliage below, with its tangle of ferns and grasses webbed and snagged on him a bit uncomfortably, and so, he had begrudgingly taken to the trees; which was what had got him attacked in the first place, by that damned overgrown chicken, yesterday morning.

Of course one quick nip to its wings had sent the bird sprawling and screaming back with an earsplitting cry.

Pakkun had easily given it a scare, but then it had unexpectedly gone in for more and this time not just for a peck.

That damned eagle had made a dive for him!

Talons and all, it gripped his pelt like he was a pup and threw him back to the ground. But of course, that was after he nearly bit the eagle's leg off. Either way, both summons did not get away without a few battle scars to show later on.

What was done was done and after that sudden storm last evening, Pakkun had lost all traces of being followed. The bird may have been able to cover more ground but it couldn't fly through a storm.

Even so, Pakkun had nearly lost the trail, which was already barely perceptible without any sudden downpours.

Of course, if it hadn't been for the hiss of lightning biting into his senses, nearly identical to Kakashi's own scent, Pakkun wouldn't have ever found Sasuke's trail.

For that was all he had to go by, the Uchiha pup's scent was the only one he knew by heart of the group, the Hyuuga he'd encountered once, but the fresh scent of all too clean cotton and lemongrass would stay with his memories now.

But there was another, a third scent, like sweet rain and sugar mixed, a scent that resembled something young and just fleshing out its powers. But the girl's scent was caked in ice. Unnatural, unsettling, not the kind of ice on a fresh snow or a too early autumn morning, no, this scent was dusty and old and it didn't belong to her.

Something had scent-marked her, _permanently_ too.

It was enough of a signal to anyone with a halfway decent nose to tuck in their tail and belly-up.

But Pakkun knew as much to smell nothing of_ that_ particular odor nearby to defend its ward that it had obviously claimed as its own.

It didn't take long for Pakkun to notice that he was following the sweet ice-pup's aroma instead of Uchiha's muted scorched steel and salt coalescing with lightning scent.

Humidity was rising with the sun, baking the little moss-pools and chilled rivers and Pakkun knew by his nose, he was drawing up near the village.

It was when he crested over a hilltop and saw the houses on stilts did the fetid scent hit him like a sack of rotting carcasses.

Pakkun nearly yelped. Maybe some humans could stomach it, even claim it was moldy-sweet as Kakashi had described, but humans already stank without being dead and when they were…

Well, it was enough to hack up his dinner of biscuits that he was able to pawn off a Chuunin troop traipsing on the border. Pakkun whined and scuttled past the last vestiges of forest to the white Med-tent that glowed with sunlit canvas.

The pavilion was thankfully on the outer rims of the putrid disease stench and was impressively large for a popup. Pakkun trotted in as if he belonged there, the sun hot on his fur and his drooping eyes scanning past the moldy smelling patients.

It was when Pakkun sighted a cluster of Med-nin crooning over the Uchiha and the little ice-pup did he trot swiftly over to them.

"I can't believe it actually healed."

"I know, it's _stronger_ even."

"I don't know about that, but the tendon isn't soft like it would have been if we had healed it."

Kagome kicked the air as she watched Sasuke strut stubbornly for Eri and Ayumi to _observe_ while she sat on the gurney with feet dangling. She was a bit smug, but who wouldn't be after what she'd been through?

By Sasuke's _miraculous_ recovery, she had just proven to herself that she could control _it._

Kagome smirked. "Turn around, and walk back."

Sasuke shot her a dry look.

Eri clapped. "Yes, yes and then give a fierce look right at the end!"

"He isn't some model, Eri…" Ayumi blushed.

Kagome waved them off. "He likes it."

Sasuke shoved his hands into his black cargo pants and dejectedly spun on his heal and walked, with shoulder blades jutting beneath his fresh cotton tee, down the imaginary runway.

Eri nearly swooned. "Do that again, that stormy-eyed look is so _you_!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He'd always thought Kagome liked _hating_ fan girls after yielding a few unconscious that one time, not _encouraging_ them. If he was ever annoyed with her, now would be a time.

But Kagome was enjoying herself all too readily. It was amazing how sensitive Sasuke was to these types of things, she was only teasing—

"Hello."

Kagome blinked. Something just licked her toe.

"Are you Higurashi Kagome?" Came a gruff voice from below.

Kagome looked down, "yes?"—only to see the ugliest little lump of fur she had ever seen.

The inu-nin plopped down and looked up with watery droopy eyes, obviously satisfied with her answer.

Kagome tilted her head, was it a mole? "Um… hello?"

"Hello." It responded back again, scratching its small floppy ear with its hind leg.

"_Sasuke—!"_ Kagome called, she didn't want to have to touch it.

But Uchiha Sasuke was trying to get the short-haired med-nin away from his dirty black fleece that had been completely drenched in rain and sweat and everything else—"Let go." He whipped it out of Eri's grasp.

"But I can wash it, Sasuke-kun," Eri pouted as she made another grab.

He knew _that_ trick. "No."

"Why _not_?" Eri moped herself practically into a puddle beneath Sasuke's feet.

"Sasuke…" Kagome called again. She didn't care if Eri was going to sneak off and smell his clothes, she didn't want to touch that disgusting lump of fur by her feet!

"_What?"_ He clipped a bit too scathingly, holding his soiled fleece out of the crazed Med-nin's reach.

She gestured to the creature that was currently chewing its ass.

Sasuke blinked. "Pakkun." He tossed his fleece and ignored how Eri made a dive for it.

The pug's stubby nose poked back up from the dark recesses of its hindquarters. "Ah, Sasuke-kun, Kakashi sent me to find you."

"Kakashi?" Kagome hopped down to the small little inu-nin. "You're one of his dog-nin." She poked the folds of fur sagging on his little body, he was kind of cute at this angle.

Pakkun nodded fiercely with his stubby little tail thumping on the ground when the girl's little fingers got right in the sweet spot between his shoulder blades.

Kagome stopped when she felt the dog's fur was wet, she pulled away with stained fingertips. "You're bleeding," she pointed out dryly at seeing the red crust under her nails.

Pakkun whined theatrically and hopped right into the girl's lap with big watery eyes gazing up.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "What attacked you?"

Kagome was already fingering the slice in the pug's pelt clinically. "Looks like a bird."

"More like an eagle," Pakkun grumbled as he pooled beneath the little ice-pup's fingers kneading the knots in his muscles.

Kagome gaped. "An eagle?"

The pug grunted.

Sasuke crossed his arms, dark eyes glinting. "Shisui…"

"Shunshin no Shisui's summon, Kin, aimed for the kill," the pug nuzzled his wet nose into the sweet ice-pup's palm. "Someone ordered that bird to attack me."

Kagome's brow furrowed. "I'd always heard his summonses were a bit… aggressive, but I wouldn't think they would actually want to kill another, it's near treason."

"It has happened before, Kagome." Sasuke informed her stately. "Kin was the bird that nearly killed one of my brother's own crows."

"I heard about that," Pakkun huffed. "Kakashi told me about how Shisui's control over them was weak, he's not a good alpha if he can't keep mere birds in line."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, lashes kissing each other. "Shisui's contract is ancient, it's much harder to control animals who are already used to another, plus birds don't have a set hierarchy or the group mentality of _dogs_. So stop trying to belittle him."

Sasuke blinked. Did she just defend his cousin?

Pakkun grunted in defeat. "I won't argue with you, pup. Just know that Uchiha Shisui isn't the man he appears to be."

And that's when Kagome's eyes sharpened into that steely blue-grey like storm clouds. "He didn't send his bird to attack you," she gritted out.

Pakkun _whuffed _and nestled back down into the girl's lap. "Whatever, pup."

Sasuke raised a brow. Didn't Kagome hate dogs? And yet now she was coddling the ugliest of its kind in her lap. "Pakkun."

A single droopy eye opened.

Sasuke sent him a look, cold and questioning but it was Kagome who spoke up, albeit a bit piqued from the dog-nin's prior accusations of Shisui. "Why are you here?" she demanded irritably.

The pug shrugged, "Kakashi told me to fetch you once the clan meeting was over and so… here I am." Kakashi's gut instincts had never been wrong and simply wanted him check in on the little group, specifically Sasuke, and see how things were going. It was, after all, Sasuke's first mission without the rest of Team 7. It also probably had something to do with that damned eagle trailing after him, but Pakkun was never one to question orders.

Kagome thrummed her fingers on the dog's shoulder blades. "We could have been back last night," she mused to herself. "Shisui must've sent his own summon for us…" The real question wasn't why the dog in her lap was nearly torn to shreds but rather_ why_… why hadn't _Itachi_ sent his own crows?

Pakkun licked the girl's palm, her skin tasted cool and sweet. "Kakashi told me to accompany you three back."

Kagome blinked. Was Kakashi really that concerned that he'd send a summon to escort them back and then poof back to him if there was the least sign of trouble? "Fine, but what happened to Shisui's summon?"

"I bit its wing and then it must've gotten stuck in the storm." The little pug shrugged it off, nonplussed. "You twos' fight made it all the way to Tanzaku Gai and got the ANBU patrol there jumpy. That storm was a nasty one."

"Hn," Sasuke smirked, obviously satisfied he had gotten himself noticed within the ranks so early on.

Kagome scowled. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke poked her forehead.

Kagome huffed and rubbed to the tender spot, he really needed to stop doing _that._

It was then Pakkun suddenly sniffed the air. "The Hyuuga is coming back." Why did he smell rabbit all over him?

Just then, the canvas flap, illuminated by fresh sunlight tucked open and Neji ducked in with a trivet of rabbits bound by the feet in his grasp. "Ohayo, Kagome-sama," Neji greeted with a fluid gait right up to his teammates.

"Where were you?" Kagome questioned absently, her eyes straying over the lumps of mangled fur and stiff ears. Meanwhile, Pakkun was drooling with wide eyes.

Neji lifted the rabbits in a swift gesture. "Hunting, of course."

Kagome's eyes fluttered, he actually listened to her. "Oh, with the villagers?"

Neji nodded. "They were so grateful as to let me keep the smaller of the catch."

"Huh," Kagome brooded. Maybe the villagers were starting to see that not all ANBU were callous statues with masks?

"Shall we be departing soon?" Neji inquired, gently placing his catch on a nearby table.

Eri suddenly popped in. "You're leaving?" She exclaimed with wide, heartbroken eyes.

"Soon, yes." Kagome stressed sending a look over to her stoic teammates. "_Right?"_ Was she the only one anxious to get back?

"I still have my duties to carry out." Sasuke said lowly, underneath a muffled breath that sounded more like a guilty admission. Unfortunately, he would be the source of her disappointment.

"And what duties are those?" She snapped back. Really, she wanted to leave this village _now._

But the answer came to mind all too quickly.

"_Uchiha…" Kage began with a drawl, eyes flinty. "Take off your mask."_

_Kagome knew that look. "Kage, don't." She pleaded, eyes gaping. _

_Sasuke didn't miss a beat, he pushed back his sleek snake mask over his slightly damp, blue-black spikes. _

_Kage let his eyes memorize the face. "You take care of the bodies." He ordered. _

_**.**_

_**.**_

"I have to burn down the village."

…

"So, uh, what's wrong with your cousin?" Kamizuki Izumo peered over the wooden counter to get a better look at the near comatose Uchiha Itachi.

Uchiha Shisui grinned. "Him?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Itachi was standing still as statue and looking out past the gaping Konoha gates. "Oh, he's just waiting for someone."

"I think he's finally lost it." Hagane Kotetsu crossed his feet on the counter and leaned back in chair. "He hasn't blinked in seven minutes."

"_Nah, _he's just… a little tired. Yeah, tired." Shisui laughed as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "So anyways, like I was saying, Anko pops out of nowhere and nearly—Oi! You listening?"

"Nope." Kotetsu bit down on his toothpick and gave the young and obnoxious ANBU Captain a disinterested look. "I don't want to hear how you boned the easiest Kunoichi in Konoha."

"But I didn't!" Shisui defended, running his hand through his mussed hair.

"Then I'm definitely not listening." Kotetsu sent a dark look over to Izumo.

Izumo brushed his bangs out of his face before mustering up the courage to ask. "How did he get that bruise?"

Shisui groaned. "You're interested about _that_?"

Kotetsu kicked the Uchiha's palm off the counter. "Yeah, no one gets a bruise that deep without it being a direct hit…"

Izumo nodded furiously. "Yeah, and since when does Uchiha Itachi _ever _get hit?"

"_Uhh_… I did it." Shisui mustered a cocky grin while he was at it.

Kotetsu's eyes widened an iota as the toothpick in his mouth fell to the ground with faint _blink_. "_You _did that?"

"Yeah, during a spar." Shisui rolled his eyes, was it that unbelievable? He _was_ faster than Itachi but the bastard had somehow memorized his fighting stances as of late and it had become nearly impossible to land one on him but he had... _once upon a time_ actually hit Itachi. Just not this time. Nope, Uchiha Fugaku had beaten him to it and he was avoiding his uncle like the plague for the past few days so that he wouldn't repay the favor _tenfold._ "They don't call me Shunshin no Shisui for nothing."

Kotetsu laced his fingers behind his neck. "Huh, good job, Uchiha."

Izumo shook his head. "I can't believe you got him. That bruise is going to get worse before it gets better." That nasty shiner was taking up half of Itachi's face.

Shisui shrugged. "We'll probably lance it later, but anyways… so I was thinking to avoid Anko—"

"What's wrong with Anko?" Izumo asked.

"Ugh…" Shisui palmed his face in frustration. "She's a goddamned stalker! That's what's wrong with her!"

"_Oh."_

Kotetsu patted the thin strip of binding over his nose. "She does that to everyone, Genma just got rid of her last month."

Shisui cringed. "She's like the village bicycle, I swear."

"Yeah, yeah, everyone gets a ride… so what's wrong with your cousin?" Kotetsu pried again.

"Nothing," Shisui shrugged. "Why do you care so much? You a fag for him too?"

Kotetsu stiffened. "Watch it."

"Heh, sorry… but seriously, why do you want to know?"

"I don't give a fuck what you call me, just don't use that word, man." Kotetsu leaned back further in his chair.

Izumo nodded. "Just plain _offensive_."

Shisui blinked, maybe they _were_… "Right, so—?"

"We've been hearing rumors is all," Izumo mused. "ANBU gossip has gotten loud enough to trickle on down to _our_ ranks." They were just Chuunin after all.

"Like what?"

"Something about him nearly dying to get a girl, then some… other stuff." Kotetsu pinched the bridge of his bandaged nose.

"How come I'm always the last one to hear about _anything_?" Shisui complained audibly, he could only imagine what had been said _now._

Izumo shrugged. "Probably because they know you'll tell Itachi. So is it true?"

The Uchiha blinked and then replied _honestly_. "Of course not. Uchiha Itachi doesn't have a girlfriend. That's absurd!"

"That's not what I heard…" Kotetsu smirked.

"I heard she's a young Captain and a prodigy, who can kill three platoons worth of men in one swoop and she's beautiful and tall and smart and deadly, her eyes are like diamonds and her long hair—"

"_Woah, woah!_ Calm down, you sound like _you're_ about to fall in love," Shisui waved Izumo down to a mute. The last thing he needed was Itachi making house calls to future stalkers of his supposed _girlfriend._ Gods, the word of mouth nowadays was horribly unreliable, especially by the time it trickled down to the Chuunin ranks. "And _no_, she's nothing like that!"

"So she's dumb, ugly, weak—" Izumo seemed to lash out.

"No! She's just… _her." _Shisui tried to say but he was never one to be eloquent. However, Kotetsu did lean forward at how Shisui just acknowledged the existence of this phantom girl.

"So it _is_ true."

"Well…"

…

"Why the_ hell_ is she so happy?" Kiba growled, nursing a busted lip.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder across the glade, where Sakura was humming. The little rosette was idly kicking the air from a felled oak tree at the water's edge and grinning from ear to ear. Naruto shrugged as he felt cool fingers slip under his shirtsleeves and resonate with the familiar buzz of healing chakra. "Thanks, Hinata-chan," Naruto said a bit absently, wondering why Sakura was pawning all the healing off on the Hyuuga.

Hinata flushed and nodded. "O-of course."

"Maybe Haruno has finally garnered a date," Shino supplemented. The Aburame's voice carried on the wind as he stood on the rim of the warm pond that was green with summer. Sunlight skittered frantically across as the wind scattered the waves, fracturing the reflection. On hot days it was refreshing to take a dip or practice Water ninjutsu, which apparently _everyone _was able to wield when the sun was blazing on their backs. At the moment, however, no one wanted to brave the algae, so they all simply basked in the breeze of the shoreline.

"Nah, I would smell it," Kiba muttered as he patted a panting Akamaru. The spar between him and Naruto had been brutal and yet the Jinchuuriki was barely out of breath. His stamina was lethal for sure, but it was another thing when Kiba fractured all the ribs on his right side while Naruto had barely bruised his shoulder.

"You…could always ask her?" Hinata suggested calmly.

"Ah, good point, Hinata—_Oi!_" Kiba practically howled with Akamaru barking along with him. _"Sakura!"_

The pink-haired kunoichi glanced up, eyes wide and smiling.

"What's wrong with you?" Kiba hollered and Naruto sent a murderous glare at the Inuzuka.

But Sakura perked up anyway. "Kagome-chan is coming back today!"

"Who?"

"Small girl. About this tall. Short hair. Resembles a boy and Naruto is always embracing her." Shino's swift analysis was a little jolting.

Naruto pouted. "Shut up, Shino."

"Chill, chill…" Kiba leaned back on his palms in the grass while his sandals toed the pebbled beaches of his team's training ground. Images passed through his mindset as he recalled the newly formed ANBU trio. "I can't believe Neji is on the same team with Sasuke…" It had all of the rookie nine and Team Gai scrambling to find order and place once again. Hell, this was the third training session Naruto had slipped into with them and Sakura usually just came for kicks.

The two of them were lost without the third.

"Neji is taking to it quite well," Hinata said calmly as her hands faded and rescinded from their healing. "His training methods have become more rigorous but he is at peace with himself for the moment."

Naruto instinctively brought his fingertips to his shoulder and rotated the joint. Still a bit stiff, but no one healed as well as Sakura. "Yeah, Teme has just gotten cockier."

"I heard Ten Ten and Lee went at it," Kiba cracked his neck with a rolling motion. "Like as in fighting…_you know_."

"ANBU will be what separates us," Shino murmured.

"Don't say that!" Hinata pleaded.

Kiba shrugged. "I'm not joining. I hear if you have a near constant summon, like how I have Akamaru, they make you kill it and _absorb_ its powers like voodoo or some other shit like that."

"That's a rumor, you dumbass."

"Either way, I've got no place in stealth missions."

"You would be an excellent Hunter-nin, Kiba," Shino suggested.

Kiba considered this for a long moment. "Yeah, I guess, but I would never leave you guys no matter how good the pay." He finished with fanged smirk.

Hinata smiled at his words while Shino nodded appreciatively. Naruto simply felt a pit knot in his stomach.

Kiba's nose twitched suddenly. His predatory eyes swept across the glade and the tepid pond waters to a stark figure in the surrounding woodlands. "Oi, Naruto… that creep is here again."

Naruto let out a grating growl and got to his feet. The grasses rustled at his movements but before he could wave Sakura over to warn her, his follower flickered right before them.

"Hello, dickless."

"Fuck you, Sai," Naruto snarled.

Sai's face remained blank as paper, with inky blots of black for his eyes. "I have tried to tell you many times, Uzumaki, that I have no intention of putting my penis into your anus."

Naruto growled in the back of his throat.

Shino simply let out an audible breath resumed his gaze over the waters.

Kiba let out a scratchy snicker. "What? That's pretty funny."

Hinata simply shook her head. "Please sit, Sai-kun." She patted the damp grass.

Sai remained standing. "I read your lips and decided to join in the pertinent topic."

"Oh, _really?"_ Naruto scoffed, eyes sharp and steely.

"Aa, Itachi-taichou is currently waiting at the gate with Shisui-taichou for _their _arrival."

"_Great,"_ Naruto dug his nails into his cheeks. "Just _fucking_ great."

"Who's arriving?" Kiba perked up.

"Kagome-chan, that's _who_." And Haruno Sakura plopped down with the quartet, all fidgety.

"Neji as well, Sakura," Hinata reminded kindly, opalescent eyes coy.

"And _teme_."

"Yeah, yeah," Sakura waved them off. "Sai, what are you doing? Go in the bushes so we can pretend you're not here."

"Unlikely, ugly."

"Oh, you'll pay for that, pasty-face."

"Try it, hag."

"_Oh I will—!"_ Sakura was already scrambling to her feet as grass scuffed to unplaced clods and Sai reached back to graze his tanto's sheath.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto launched a forearm across Sakura's chest and dragged her back. "Seriously, _don't."_ Sai was messed up enough to actually fight her, and since he was in ANBU he held authority to slit her throat if she proved 'treasonous'. Sakura squirmed but her resistance slacked in few moments. "What do you want, Sai?" Naruto's voice was thunder in his throat as Sakura pushed herself off her teammate.

"It is my secondary assignment, to not only monitor you, Uzumaki, for possible outbreaks in the Kyuubi no Youko's influence but to also gather information on varying leads."

"He's here to spy on us?" Kiba barked.

"Yeah, what else would you expect from an ANBU tailing me nonstop?" Naruto said flatly.

"What do you wish to know, Sai-kun?" Hinata asked hesitantly, craning her head to meet the looming ANBU who regarded her more callously than most enemies she had faced.

Sai simply blinked. "For one, I am to gather information on your father's intention with Kagome-san."

"O-oh, I k-know nothing about that," Hinata's eyes bowed low, to Sai's boots that were stained with something darker than black.

Sai nodded. "No, I would assume not. You are the clueless one in your family after all."

"Don't talk to Hinata like that!" Kiba lurched.

Sai shifted his gaze to the Inuzuka. He was not unlike Naruto in his animal-like gaze and guttural threats. "Was the inflection of my voice misconstrued as _rude_?"

Kiba's whole body vibrated from the rumbling in his chest.

"I thought not," Sai turned his attention to the blonde Jinchuuriki and the petulant Chuunin who Shisui-taichou had grown quite a liking to recently. "Their last checkpoint was reported to be in Tanzaku Gai, three hours ago. I suggest you do not interfere with Itachi-taichou at the moment. He has been inclined to drawing blood in his training sessions as of late and even canceled this morning's to await Team Higurashi's return."

"Anything else?" Sakura snapped.

"Aa," Sai swiveled on his heel and leveled the Hyuuga girl with a utterly heartless gaze. "Kagome-san is particular to Uzumaki. I would suggest not making your body language so blatant or rather just eradicating your infatuation altogether." Sai smiled.

Hinata promptly fainted.

"_Hinata!" _The trio chimed with Sakura and Kiba scrambling over to her. Sakura propped the Hyuuga up as Kiba hovered with a concerned whine from Akamaru.

Naruto lunged.

Sai sidestepped and Naruto went sprawling. "They are predicted to arrive at noon."

"_Bastard—!"_

"_So, _remember, stay away from the gates, dickless."

_I'll be watching._

Sai flickered out of sight.

...

Late summer brought the cicadas blaring, harkening the all too welcome and natural heat of the lower altitudes and the eventual endless sea of trees and sun-baked leaves of their home country.

The disposing of the bodies had taken less than an hour.

Sasuke took no satisfaction in that, his orders were clear and he disposed of the quarantined areas and the neatly piled corpses without so much as a blink of the eye.

With heavy eyes, he _burned_ them.

Setting ablaze the last tangible references of countless lives and losses, Sasuke engulfed the entire area in a searing flame that nearly baked off his own skin and choked out the sweet late summer sky with a rancid smoke.

The Disposal/Recovery team had stacked the corpses in, with an inhumane efficiency. They were categorized by size, naturally, then by gender. With their salvageable items stripped, they were nothing but emaciated naked grey-green stacked and stacked and stacked upon like sardines in a can.

And then Kagome, with a mask placed firmly over her face, said, "Burn them."

He did, and watched with his own mask on, as their flesh, so thin and ripe, peel from their bones and the maggots fall out in soft pops from the blackened hollows and rotten blood.

The smell was the worst, but Sasuke soon realized that with his mask, he could only smell the sting of bleach on his nostrils. It was an unsaid utility and he had never been more grateful for anything else.

Because it wasn't _him_, Uchiha Sasuke, that had just burned the corpses of a hundred children.

No, it was Hebi.

The faceless snake, who slithered and harkened fire from his very lips and paid no heed to the pleading villagers, the crying villagers, the screaming villagers—

Who had just begged, pleaded, cried for him to wait.

All they wanted was a funeral.

Just a funeral, couldn't he wait a few hours, and then they would be done?

But there was the cat, his mistress, Yamaneko, the conniving lynx, who commanded him to do so, because she hated this place and he would burn it all down for her sake.

The watchful crane, Tsuru said nothing. With a stoic gaze, pale and pure, he watched as he laid waste to the village, he kept his words to himself.

He hated the crane.

And so, after the place was laid to waste, they left silently in a cloudlet of bone-dust and ash.

Because they were no longer themselves, and couldn't even bear the eyes of the Med-nin that had become so fond of them.

Yamaneko took front; she wasn't just making the journey home, she was running away.

With Pakkun tucked into her cloak, she was running, _running_, _**running**_….

"Kagome," he called, but he was too quiet. His voice nearly cracked from the dryness and the _ash _coating his—

With a scramble of sweaty palms, Sasuke yanked his mask back and lurched over the side of a bough.

Neji paused and he too, pulled his mask back, albeit with a bit more grace and flanked his teammate. Neji steadied him as Uchiha Sasuke _puked_ his guts out.

Kagome flickered to him, and with her mask still firmly placed on, she regarded him without any concern but rather a callous impatience. "Hurry it up," she muttered and beneath those slits were downcast _grey _eyes.

"We are traveling too fast," Neji stressed harshly as he wrapped an arm around Uchiha's torso as he heaved.

Kagome looked away, her eyes straying up above to the bleeding canopy; the sunset was sending crisp carmine rays through and onto them. "We rest, but only for a few hours. We will reach Konoha by noon tomorrow."

Neji nodded, grateful that she wasn't completely unreasonable in her anxiety.

Neji rested Sasuke against the trunk and _waited_, while Kagome darted back into the forest to do Kami only knew what.

They didn't rest long. Not long enough anyways, with Sasuke pale as death and heaving up an empty stomach, which was slowly turning from bile to spit and blood. Neji was scanning the forest for kilometers around with his Byakugan watching the fluttering creatures and Kagome's vocal cords thrumming somewhere off in the distance with that little inu-nin listening intently.

The air was beyond tense, it was frantic and electrified and whether it was from Sasuke's frenetic chakra or Kagome's own unidentified energy source, Neji couldn't surmise but he_ did_ know that both were going to snap if they didn't reach Konoha _soon._

"I can taste them…" Sasuke croaked with his pale face glistening with sweat and his black hair matted to his cheeks and temples, he stared at Neji with dazed eyes. "They're in my throat." Sasuke's hands twitched—

But before the Uchiha could claw out his own throat, Kagome appeared like a ghost in the moonlight, with a little pug nuzzling into her and her mask pushed up. She was that innocent little girl again, swathed in white.

Kagome walked silently across the small branches that should have snapped under her weight but didn't make a sound when she treaded over them. She knelt beside the sickly Uchiha and with Pakkun hopping down and watching intently, Kagome placed her fingertips on Sasuke's temples.

Immediately Sasuke's inky black eyes lolled to a white and closed solidly.

Then, just as sudden, the sharpness of the air heightened and that distinct chill flattened the frenetic energies whizzing around with a distinct tremor.

Kagome's own eyes closed and her breathing evened, Neji watched intently with his Byakugan trained on her heartbeat.

For a fraction of a second—

Her life energies blurred, her chakra distorted and became nearly transparent as something unseen and could only be_ felt_ rushed to her fingertips in such a splendid surge that it nearly glowed.

Neji blinked.

It was so absurd, but her entire being just radiated with a sudden flash—

_Of pink?_

Kagome sat back with a sigh and looked back to Neji with a soft contented smile. "You told me to practice." She seemed to defend, but her self-contentedness was too great to shatter.

So he didn't point out that _that _was exactly what he had advised _not _to do. He had advised her to learn to control, to stem the flow of the gaping wound, to subdue the power, not to practice and sow the seeds so that it may flourish.

"I'm getting better," she mused quietly, and the little pug seemed all too willing to_ whuff_ in agreement. "I even healed Pakkun," she declared liltingly as she gently patted the dog on the head.

"Why not the stomach?" Ethics aside, he was more than just curious, Hyuuga Neji was utterly fascinated.

But Kagome just smiled sadly, lips, no teeth. "Because it was a wound of the mind."

Realization hit him like the unnatural icy chill that had now settled into the air.

She was able to cure much more than simple cuts.

And that was all that was said for the remainder of the trip. Sasuke simply regained consciousness shortly after and returned to his normal brooding and stoic self, while Kagome took lead anxiously after having been delayed for another second.

They ran on through the night, Kagome's speed unmatched like a moth to an unseen flame. She flew through the dawn and ran until the dew settled on their cloaks and then evaporated with the rising sun.

Their delay had cost them, but they still had miraculously arrived_ before_ midday.

And with Kagome silently acknowledging that they were but less than a dozen miles away, they stepped onto the main sunlit dirt road and gazed upon the small but all too distinct Konoha gates in the distance.

Kagome paused, for a second, and Sasuke made a grab for her as she threw her mask to the ground like an unwanted appendage and shoved Pakkun into his open grasp. That's when Kagome's anxiousness got the best of her, because in the next moment, she _disappeared._

She flickered in a flash of white and dust and then was gone.

…

_Breaking protocol, Seventh Captain Higurashi-Nara Kagome broke formation and activated a long distance Shunshin no Jutsu._

…

She caught herself with trembling hands from the shockwave of the chakra required for that instantaneous distance and looked up to see the looming Konoha Gates, the sun ached her eyes and she barely caught the glimpse of a dark shadow, standing, _staring_—

"_Itachi."_ She breathed out, a harsh whisper to herself. He'd been _waiting._

He had been waiting _for her_.

Forgetting about all chakra enhanced speed and transportation Jutsu, Kagome _ran._

"_Itachi!"_ She called and sprinted down the dirt lane until his face came crisply into view and his dark eyes welcomed her with their usual heavy gaze.

In matter of seconds she was a few feet before him and then leaped—

The world stilled, like a _held _breath.

Right into him, with her arms lacing around his neck and her legs wrapping around his ribs, she _hugged _him. _Hard._

And then the world came alive once more, and _exhaled._

Because she was small, she could and she didn't care who saw, because he had been _waiting_ and she had come back, _running._

She burrowed into his warm neck, and breathed out in a heavy sigh and loved how every tense bit of muscle released.

Itachi stilled, she had come back and then wrapped herself around him as if he would save her, like a boat to the drowning. He tilted his head and listened to her steady breaths, he felt her burrow into his neck and refuse to come out. "How was your mission?" He asked bemusedly, long fingers slipping over her arched back and the tips of her hair, brushing against the slender nape of her neck.

Flashes of angry villagers, Kage and Sasuke demanding things of her, little screaming boys with black teeth ready to claw her throat out, and children and women burning in flames with Sasuke's eyes begging her not to—

"Horrible, absolutely, fucking _horrible_." Kagome breathed into him and popped her head out to look up at him. "And you?" She asked innocently, with smiling eyes much too relieved and _blue_ to help herself.

A twitch of the lips and Itachi caught glimpses of meetings upon meetings, with councils and clans all vying for the little thing in his arms, _all _of them scheming, with his father screaming disappointment in his brother and false pride in him and with a clenched fist—

"Just as well," he responded lightly.

Kagome blinked, there was such a deep ache in his eyes. _What happened?_ But she never asked, just as he never did her, because they were beyond words.

And so, Kagome gathered herself up and tilted her head, so that cheek against cheek, she brushed her lips against the corner of his mouth, along the rim of the bruise marring his perfect face. With the lightest peck, she sent the single message, "_I can heal you." _It was the softest of whispers along his bleeding skin.

Itachi stilled and blinked _twice. _

Someone cleared their throat.

Both prodigies froze, and a now sobered Kagome hopped out of Itachi's grasp with a begrudging untangle, looking up to see two smug Chuunin and a fretful Uchiha Shisui.

"Like I was saying, he so _does not_ have—" Shisui tried to amend weakly after the obvious dramatic reunion.

Hagane Kotetsu wouldn't hear it. "Bullshit, he doesn't have a girlfriend."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well you should all be thanking **Inevitably Insane** for this update. I'm basically updating on a whim because of their PM to me about an hour ago. Well since we're all here, I have good news and more good news. Good news number one: I have an editor now by the penname of **serena957** who also goes by the moniker of 'Kimi' so we both agreed that she shall be 'The Other Kimi' affectionately known as TOK. So all your grammatical complaints can go straight to her, but be nice or I'll bite you:) TOK is basically responsible for lengthening this chapter because all you kiddies like Naruto and I have a tendency to ignore him. The other good news: winter break has given me plenty of time! So not only did I just finish ch 22 a few days ago, but ch 23 should be relatively complete by today or tomorrow with two more blissful weeks of uninterrupted typing I plan on getting a lot of headway. Oh and I got accepted into college:) _lotsdilove_~KK

_Update Schedule_

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **January 5**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **January 19**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **February 16**(Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **March 16**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)

_**I stop counting after 72 hours. The date will be posted on Friday, December 24**_


	20. Foxes and Their Burrows

Author's note: Early update! Why? Because I'm horribly, horribly sick and in bed and feel like you guys and your reviews can cheer me up:)

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty~**

Foxes and Their Burrows

* * *

_once upon a time, I loved a girl_

_she died of poison and rotten lungs_

_I lived on the horizon with twisted tongues;_

_now, I dream of a daughter_

_I never had._

_

* * *

_

"Kissing? Since when is there _kissing_?" Shisui screeched at the pensive pair of prodigies.

Itachi and Kagome exchanged a lingering sidelong glance. She shrugged, swiping her knuckles across her sooty cheeks and smearing the ash. "_Shut up_, Shisui."

Shisui cringed. "Eh, that's a cold look, Chibs, even for you." He looked her over. Her ashen white skin was caked in some sort of soot, while the right sleeve of her black bodysuit was torn up to her elbow, ragged and singed on the ends. Even her usually pristine white cloak, was gaping open and barely holding onto her slim shoulders, inked with a tarry substance and all the other grimes of travel. "Shit, Chibs, you look like a dragon spit you out."

Itachi's gaze had been on her for awhile, and from the moment that rancid murky scent hit his nostrils, he knew.

"Thanks." Kagome sighed heatedly. She knew she looked horrible. Caked in smoke, blood, sweat, _mud…_but that's how it always was after a mission, you felt _dirty_. She kicked her mucked boots into the dry dirt with soft cloudlets of dust flaring up at her impatient action. The heat was making it all the worse. Everything caked on her skin was boiling up and smelling _horrible_.

"Hello, Kagome-san," Hagane Kotetsu drawled smugly, with a lax wave to the petulant pipsqueak.

Kagome raised a brow, but politely waved back. "Hello, Kotetsu-san."

Izumo whispered something into Kotetsu's ear and regarded her with an awestruck look. Kotetsu nodded, long spikes of hair bobbing with the motion, and waved Izumo off. "You got papers?"

Kagome blinked. "Aa. Could you deliver them to the Hokage for me?" She walked forward—

Only to have Uchiha Itachi silently follow.

"Not really protocol, but _sure_." Kotetsu regarded the Uchiha Prodigy falling into step with her with a satisfied glance at Shisui.

Kagome fished a teal bound scroll out of the recesses of her cloak, along with a small vial, sloshing with a sludgy black liquid, and another smaller scroll, tied with a thin scarlet twine. "Mission report, along with requests for medical backup and the samples Kage's team was able to gather."

Kotetsu blinked. "Quite the load you have there. I heard about Kage's group. Aren't they going after Orochimaru again?"

Kagome shrugged. "None of my concern, or _yours._ He is more than capable, however."

Shisui huffed. "You saw Kage? What the hell was that prick slumming it out there in River for?"

Itachi stepped slightly into the shade of the awning, reveling in the cool relief. He flanked behind Kagome and leaned against the wooden stand. With crossed arms and a contented gaze, he settled into his typical calm.

The tension had melted off his lithe frame, but the intensity in his eyes had heightened and his aura was hovering around Kagome like a dark protective cloud. "That is none of your concern, Shisui." The iciness bit that subject right in the bud. With a dark gaze heavy on Kagome, Itachi withdrew into a contemplative silence.

"So, Chibs. Where is my bird?" Shisui intoned flatly. He was not cheery at the moment. He wanted his summon, _now._

Kotetsu leaned back in his chair, obviously bemused that _this_ was the girl everyone had been talking about. Higurashi Kagome,_ of all people_… "The real question is, where's the rest of your team?" There was no way this_ little_ prodigy would be carrying such a valuable load without some serious muscle to back her up.

Kagome shrugged. "Sasuke is most likely lagging behind. I did pull a good fourteen mile Shunshin."

Shisui nearly beamed with pride. "Fourteen miles?" He then swooped her up and began to twirl her like a fussy kitten to coo over. "That's nearly as much as me!" Of course he could get twenty on an average basis and maybe thirty if he was in a hurry.

Kagome glowered grumpily. "Put me down. _Now,_ Shisui."

But Shisui's hands remained firmly gripped underneath her armpits and he twirled… "You'll be my little protégée from now on, _kay?"_ His singsong voice bellowed throughout the entrance of Konahagakure with a resounding echo.

"Ah, that explains it then…" Izumo mused with fingertips cupping his chin  
Kotetsu nodded. "Aa, especially if Uchiha Sasuke is her teammate."

Shisui paused with a stupefied expression with Kagome looking as if she was about to claw his eyes out. "Stop it, you two! I don't like those devious sneaky looks and all the whispering you're doing—Oi! I said stop it! Itachi, make them stop!" He whined.

Itachi said nothing, his head bowed and eyes closed. The world was a thousand miles away as he waited for his cousin to _put down_ Kagome so that they could _leave_…

Shisui plopped Kagome on the earth with a wrinkled nose. "You stink."

Yes, after three days of nonstop travel, dead bodies, sick people and no bathing, one would begin to smell. "So do you."

Shisui sniffed his armpit. "Nah, it's not Tuesday yet."

Kagome shuddered.

"Just kidding! I shower… _mostly _every day. Anyways, where the hell are Hyuuga and Gaki? I _want _my bird."

"Hyuuga?" Izumo leaned over and spotted two blurs flickering in small increments with the sunlight, their shapes indistinct until they finally flitted into the gateway in shimmering cloudlets of dust. "You mean those two."

Two figures, dark as wet ink on paper flickered before them, their black trappings and grey armor looked a little worse for wear but the glossy porcelain masks on their faces were absolutely spotless. Blood red eyes slid beneath the eye-slits of the dark haired one, his mask was slightly curved but otherwise expressionless save for the bladed scales at the temples. The taller, lither and paler one, held gaping eyelets with opalescent eyes shimmering beneath like pearls. He was an avian marble statue next to the dark scarlet snake.

Shisui blinked. "_Where is my bird_?" He demanded, seeing the lack of eagle perched on either of their shoulders.

Kagome sighed, flicking her nails against the wood of the counter irritably, as she watched Sasuke push his mask over his damp hair and approach her with a straight and narrow gaze.

She rolled her eyes. Was he seriously mad _again_? This was completely ridiculous. She'd only ran ahead a few miles—

Sasuke wouldn't dare look over to Itachi, the one who was hovering near like a shadow, most likely just mere seconds after _she_ had crashed into Konoha leaving_ him_ in the dust and with _Hyuuga_.

There were wicked lines streaking along Sasuke's jaw line and underneath his eyes. Soot and other blackish substances that risked being bruises called out from his pale flesh, but it was his pupils fleshing out their vermillion backs of the Sharingan, that were drenched and _dripping _with pure frustration that caused Itachi to smirk.  
"Otouto," he greeted lightly, tilting his head to the side to his infuriated little brother.

Sasuke proceeded to stomp towards Kagome like a toddler with a temper tantrum, refusing to look at him.

Kagome's lips parted, fell into a wordless gape… but she wouldn't apologize. She shouldn't have to. "Sasuke—"

But her breath caught when something was shoved into her chest, _hard._

Sasuke nearly cracked the porcelain mask against her sternum.

And the sound wasn't pleasant.

Neither were Sasuke's words.

"You left. _Again_." And his lips grazed her earlobe with a growl.

Sasuke didn't miss a beat, and Kagome's fingers barely caught the mask, they were numb and her breath was uneven from the force he had hit her with.

Such a stillness took place in the air, but between the two brothers—

The world froze over.

"Otouto." Itachi's voice was ice.

It happened fast.

Sasuke turned on his heel—

Itachi caught his brother's wrist and it was wrenched to Sasuke's burning eyes in the same moment. He forced his foolish little brother to acknowledge _this_ and to look him in the eye.

Sasuke grimaced, _barely _before ripping his hand out of his brother's grip with a downward and heated gaze. He stomped past Shisui, whose shoulder hit him on the way.

"_Prick."_ Shisui bit out as Sasuke walked past.

When Sasuke left, flickering out of sight and sunlight, a deathly silence settled in between them, but naturally—

Someone had to break it.

"What the _fuck _was _that_?" Shisui screeched shrilly.

"You really pissed him off." Kotetsu chimed.

"What did you _do_?" Izumo staggered, his voice nearly squeaking at the tension between the ANBU.

Kagome was still clutching her mask to her chest, its swift point of a nose biting into her skin. "I just… ran ahead." She finished, her voice a bit vacant from having realized how truly wounded Sasuke must have felt when she had run on ahead to—

"Itachi."

The elder brother of the pair, looked down, eyes flicking from the empty space his little brother had just occupied to the little ANBU with eyes that were too big.

"Yes?"

"How… mad was he?" She asked, gaze hooded. This was ridiculous… but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.

A nonchalant shrug was her answer; graceful all in the same movement, with sharp shoulder blades jutting beneath the thin faded fabric of his shirt. "Sasuke… has always been an insufferable child."

Translation: _Pretty pissed._

Shisui spun on his heal and pointed accusingly at the silent and ever observing Neji, who was pushing his mask back with the very tips of his fingers. _"You! _Hyuuga."

"Me." He drawled in a flat tone and equal gaze. The schism between clans was apparent, the rift gaping and bitter.

"What happened?" Shisui asked seriously, and it sounded more like an order.

Neji examined his cuticles idly, barely regarding the Uchiha twice his size.

"Kagome-sama reacted appropriately, my teammate, however, is an … emotionally impulsive person."

"What is with all the _vague_ answers?" Shisui groaned.

"Sasuke was rank with spite." Came a gruff little voice from below.

All eyes went down to the hot, dusty earth.

"Pakkun." Kagome greeted and knelt to pat the pug on the head. She had nearly forgotten about the little ninken.

"Hello, Pup," he responded, leg twitching when Kagome's fingers got in the sweet spot. It was true, after all, spite was just a subtle way of putting it, but the soft spike of scent and the waft of sour envy had permeated his senses before the Uchiha had gone off after pup. "Sasuke's scent deflated when Itachi's presence came into view though," he explained in the closest human terms he was able to piece together.

How was one to explain the link between den-mates and how even the youngest of litters had alphas? But even with a stronger male keeping pup as his ward, Sasuke would still nip at her at every chance he got if she went against him; for she was still younger_ and_ a female and nature dictated it as such. "He's threatened, Pup_." And would rather have you submit than run off to his elder brother._

Kagome's brow furrowed. That was never going to happen. If anything, she always felt as if she were the _older _one guiding Sasuke, as if he were a wayward teenage boy...which he was. There was no _submitting_. She would sooner die. "Yes, well, he's much too sensitive to certain… subjects." Her eyes flicked up to Itachi at the last word, a primal sense in her gaze.

"Kagome-sama—"

The Hyuuga's words brought the two prodigies out their reverie.

"You can go, Neji." Kagome murmured, dismissing him with an appreciative nod.

"Remember, we will do training with the other ANBU soon."

"Hai." And with a bow, the Hyuuga disappeared into the sunlight.

A loud groan broke out. "Okay, for the _last time,_ where the fuck is my bird?"

Kagome gathered Pakkun into her arms protectively as the air bristled and sent a glance to the two prying and utterly too silent Chuunin behind her. Both Shisui and Itachi acknowledged that this where their conversation had to end its public display.

They needed to discuss it somewhere else.

And with a swift nod, Itachi and Shisui disappeared into the shadows while Kagome turned cheerily to the Chuunin behind her.

"Goodbye, Kagome-san," Izumo muttered glumly, already knowing what was up. When two ANBU fought it was most likely classified or deathly personal to warrant such privacy, often times _both._

Kotetsu waved with a smirk. "Good luck."

"Uh, thanks." She didn't know what to make of that.

Kagome slunk back into her cloak and side-stepped into a shadow to meld to with a brief Shunshin, and within a quick blur and that air-buzzing ring of chakra, she stepped onto a rooftop.

Pakkun relaxed considerably when the world sifted back to normal and stared out to the two dark Uchiha blotting the sunlight.

Shisui was crouched on rusted piping while Itachi found shade within an awning of an adjacent building. With long fingers grazing the foliage of the numerous potted plants leaning over from the porch, his thoughtful stare drifted over to her.

Kagome stalked over to them, nearly gliding like a ghost in her gossamer white cloak, and immediately broke out into a vehement accusation. "Your _bird_, Shisui, _attacked_ Pakkun." The pug grunted a little to that fact.

Shisui crossed his arms and glared at the ugly little mole that was Hatake Kakashi's summon. "Yeah, well, he probably deserved it, and since when did _you_ start liking dogs?" Shisui's eyes narrowed.

Kagome ceased her fluid gait and shrugged as the little pug's brows knitted at the Uchiha. "Your summon… was taken out by the storm." Pakkun responded gruffly.

"After he nearly shredded his pelt beyond repair." Kagome added. "Shisui, did you order your eagle to attack Pakkun?" _Please don't let Sasuke be right about you…_

Shisui's eyes immediately dashed to the sky, gaping blue and warm with soft wisps of summer clouds. "Uh…maybe a _little?"_ He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

"_Shisui!" _

"I just knew that damn prick Kakashi would send his little rat-dog to get to you guys—" Shisui defended.

"_It's Kakashi!_ What's so bad about him checking in on us?"

"_Everything!"_

"What? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh, come on, Chibs, don't defend him. Hatake Kakashi has been meddling with you more than you know."

"Kakashi has done nothing, you paranoid _freak!"_

"Well, my bird is probably dead by now because of _him_ and that—that _thing!"_ Shisui pointed accusingly at the sagging lump of fur that was a nonplussed Pakkun.

"_Unbelievable_," Kagome hugged Pakkun to her chest. "What would ever compel you to kill another shinobi's summon?"

"Not kill, Chibs… just maim a little—possibly cripple for life?" Shisui grinned nervously.

Kagome's jaw dropped. "…I hope your bird is dead." Her voice was icy.

"Don't say that!"

"I'll say it as long as you keep antagonizing Kakashi and killing puppies," Kagome grumbled.

"That's not a puppy, that's a rat!" Shisui slapped a palm on his face in exasperation. "Itachi, tell her she's wrong."

"I'm not_ wrong_!"

"Kagome…" Itachi's voice slid through the air unnoticed. This was getting out of hand. Shisui's temper was unbridled to begin with, but Kagome's… was an _unknown._

And unknowns were a dangerous thing.

"_Yes. You. Are!"_

"Wrong about _what_?" Kagome quipped, a small impatient foot tapping the concrete.

"About… about… Hatake Kakashi!"

"What in Kami's name do you have against Kakashi? And don't even start it off with the Sharingan or I swear—"

"_Everything!_ He's done stuff…"

"Like what?"

"He—"

"Shisui." Itachi's voice finally cut through the air like a blade.

Shisui immediately deflated and rescinded into a moping stance, lips pouting and arms crossed. "It's… not my place to tell you," he muttered.

Kagome whipped around to Itachi. "What on earth is he talking about?"

"Kagome." His eyes bore into her. _We need to talk._

Her stomach curled into a tight knot. Why was it always Itachi pulling her away from everyone? Even now, with Sasuke and Naruto he had done so, ever so subtly... Itachi was Uchiha, he was the _heir_, of course his views on the infamous Copy-nin would be skewed. Kakashi held their coveted Kekkei Genkai after one of their kin had conveniently died…

She wouldn't let Itachi pull her away, even from something as small as a possible mentorship.

"No," she finalized. _I want to hear it from him first._

"No?" Shisui echoed.

"_No,"_ Kagome nodded. She couldn't let anyone, even Uchiha Itachi, take over her life, no matter how subtle it may be. She needed to form her own viewpoints on matters before listening to the velvet tongue of the weasel.

Itachi stood erect and garnered her with a dark look.

There was a wariness to her, one that she regarded _him_ with. It was how her left foot stepped back, in a slight defensive stance, and how her eyes were guarded with grey walls, rimming her irises.

Itachi's eyes immediately sharpened. This was the beginning of something unwanted, something completely and utterly rooted back to…

"Hatake Kakashi…" Itachi began fluidly, his steps were shuffling, _audible_. "Is not the man you perceive him to be."

"Like you, right?" Kagome's voice bit back. Her eyes were sharp, bladed with ebony lashes.

"Chibi…" Shisui's voice was hollow, _hurt_. "Why would you say that?" He asked quietly.

Itachi simply stood, mid-step, with long fingers stretching forward, unseen against to his thigh. His eyes were all too unblinking to show his unease at her scathing remark.

Kagome hugged Pakkun closer, swallowing hard and mustering up the strength to take it back. "I'm sorry," she said after a long moment. "But… you have no right to tell me these things."  
Itachi rescinded with a silent nod.

Shisui laced his fingers behind his neck. "Right, then, we'll drop it and let you find out on your own." He didn't sound very supportive.

Kagome nodded, eyes grateful. "I trust you both… but I have to be my own person too."

"We get it, Chibs." He didn't want to talk about it anymore; as far as either Uchiha was concerned, Hatake Kakashi had just wedged himself in between _them _and Kagome.

And _that_, neither of them would stand for.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower back at my apartment, and then probably get a bite to eat…" She mused absently as she turned on her heel to the edge of the roof.

Yes, a nap after a hot shower sounded nice and then maybe they could all eat at some little café…

"_Uh_… about that…"

Kagome tilted her head back and leveled Shisui with a glance. The wind soughed through with a hiss, tousling her short black tresses against her cheeks. "What?"

"We have something else to tell you too…"

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Nope." Shisui shook his head and then splayed a palm to Itachi. "Your turn."

Itachi ran a hand languidly through his bangs in his usual flustered elegance. "We took it upon ourselves… _Kagome_," he seemed to caution her. "—to ensure that all your belongings were properly stored away—"

"Itachi…" Kagome began with a warning voice. She was much too comfortable with his name.

"What he's trying to say, Chibs…"

"Is what?" She clipped.

"You have been evicted." Itachi intoned coolly. _"Kagome."_

"I've been _what_?" She nearly choked.

"Kicked out? Put on the streets? You know? Evicted. Your landlord came by your place and said that if you didn't pay up you would be given the boot and your stuff would be held for collateral."

"You were in my apartment?" Kagome gaped. She had been behind but never enough to warrant an eviction. It was probably the window, the _fucking _window that _Itachi_ had broken and probably all that blood in the carpet, that _Itachi_ had bled…

_Ugh,_ and the list went on and on.

Shisui whistled evasively. "Just for a little bit. But that's not the point, we took your stuff and put it in a safe spot… though most of the furniture came with the apartment, apparently, so we only took the clothes and some other boxes— but the good news is… we have a new place for you to live!" Shisui was grinning from ear to ear.

"No." Kagome immediately said. "Absolutely not, _you_… _both of you_ don't get to decide anything for me. You don't have the right to."

"Woah, woah… Chibs, calm down. Don't worry, it's not the Uchiha Manor, it's _way _better, I sw—"

"What did you do with Buyo?" Kagome asked menacingly.

"Who?"

"My cat," she gritted out.

Shisui looked sent a sidelong glance to his cousin. "She has a cat?" He whispered, _oh so subtly._

"Aa," Itachi intoned evenly.

"Oh, that's _right_."

Kagome stood, awestruck, staring at the two Uchiha who seemed a bit too unconcerned at her apparent lack of _cat._

"I don't know," Shisui shrugged, finally conceding to the fact that no cat was found when he and Sai had been ordered to clean out the place and move the items to an undisclosed location…

"Unbelievable," Kagome breathed out and turned on her heel once more in a flutter of white.

"_Oi!_ What the fuck are you so mad about?" Shisui called lightly, but there was an irritated chill on his tongue.

And she whipped back around, eyes sharp as blades and gathering like storm clouds. "You _really_ have to ask?" She propped Pakkun on her hip as she began to flex her fingers like claws. "First of all, Sasuke has been an absolute mess from the beginning of this Kami forsaken mission, he nearly got his throat slit by Kage _of all people_—"

Itachi stilled considerably and Shisui shuffled awkwardly.

"We fought, _literally_. Because of _you_." She pinned Itachi with a stormy gaze, full of metal and lightning. "Making it absolutely _suffocating_ between us, so I ran… I ran back to you for just_ one_ breath—but you just had to smirk back at him and now he's even more unapproachable than before. Then you tell me Kakashi, the one person I thought was above ulterior motives and barely concerned with my existence let alone my association with _any of you,_ is now someone I should avoid? And you!" She pointed a finger at Shisui, who winced like it was a thrown dagger. "You sent your eagle to attack his summon! That's low, Shisui, even for you."

Shisui scratched his jaw line. "_Ouch…"_

"So I accept all this, because I trust you. _Both of you_… but now I find out you can't even do the same." Kagome's voice dwindled at the end. They went into her apartment and snooped around like a couple of… ninja, assassins,_ murderers_. Should she expect any less? That's what they were. "I just wish…" She shook her head. "No, I just put too much faith in you… _everyone has_." And with that she walked away and disappeared into the wind, wordless, with glassy blue-grey eyes.

Shisui fell back against the metal piping with a vacant expression. "Plus you went to the Hokage behind her back, don't think she'll forget about that anytime soon." He crossed his arms with a heavy sigh. Kagome still had no idea about the Clans either. "Wait until she finds out our Clan wants her and Sasuke betrothed within the year."

Itachi said nothing.

"Itachi?" His cousin was typically unresponsive but there was caustic aura curdling over at the seams and it was suffocating.

"She will come back, Shisui," he murmured slowly.

"What makes you so sure?"

But Itachi's were all too distant, years away, _lifetimes_…

"She always has…even from the very beginning."

…

Didn't he see it?  
Couldn't he feel it, the thrumming of the twisted and gnarled knot in her chest? That hollow beat with every image that flooded back? Why couldn't he feel it? It was so strong in her mindset, every detail of Sasuke's Sharingan before he made a slash for her throat, the little black teeth of the demon-imp, the bone-white ash, _corpse-dust_, that coated her lungs…

Why didn't Itachi understand that she just wanted it all to stop? That with him, she felt as safe and protected as a blind pup in a dark lightless den…

With every step, she felt that warm helplessness leech away and felt all the more _open_ to the bright and piercing world.

And it was a harsh reality.

People _stared_, so she avoided the streets and skulked about like a criminal in the back alleyways. After all, what was more shameful than an ANBU coming back from a mission, serving to protect the village and its denizens, daring to show their blood-caked hands?

Kagome scuttled down a pipeline, with Pakkun nudging up to her shoulder. "You smell like salt, pup." And her lungs were whimpering silently.

She furiously wiped her dampening eyes. Why was this sinking feeling so horrible that she felt as if she just wanted to seep into the ground and _disappear_?

The day was beautiful and she resented it, the rough heat making her feel sticky.

Itachi was just too detached at times; practical things overshadowed the smaller, more _emotional _nuances.

Kagome found that _thankfully_, her cretin of a landlord was too lazy or too cheap to replace the shattered window—

_That Itachi broke. _But she wouldn't delve into resentments _yet._

It was beginning to be a long list, after all.

—and so Kagome slippedin like a thin strip of paper, silent and fluttering soft.

Her apartment was bare, beyond it. Whatever measly furnishings that had come with the flat, were gone and probably sold off to pay off her stacking debt.

Sunlight spilled in, over crop circles of dust and twiddled down lumps of lint. It was a vacant place, empty and stripped bare, without her knowledge or even permission.

It had been her home.

However small, she had pulled her little futon to the window so she could gaze out at the moon when it favored the night sky, or watch it dip into storm clouds during nights full of lightning and raindrops. Even the occasional ochre sunset made her content to just sit and contemplate.

There was a little ledge where Buyo would scamper onto to reach the neighbor's porch where he would sunbathe among the clutter of potted plants, ceramic flamingos and stone frogs or even catch a complimentary warm bowl of milk.

Across the street was a little boy who would fly paper airplanes after a long rain and tie balloons to the old rusted piping. And there were Morning Glories on the brick facing, which would bloom their little pink-plum petals like sunlit fans greeting her every morning before she set out…

But that was all gone now.

And how could she tell Itachi that? It wasn't the fact she was practically homeless now, and _broke,_ but that she had _had _a home, a place of her own in a world that never belonged to her or she to it.

She didn't want to rely on others, that's why she moved out of the Nara district _years_ ago when she could barely stand four feet.

Kagome kicked a spoon across the tile of her abandoned and scraped out kitchenette. By the swift shuffles of dust, it was apparent Shisui and Itachi and whoever else had made a mad dash with her things before her landlord could hold them against her.

"_Mew?"_

And there, curled into a creamy ball of fluff and squash-colored patches, was her beloved little neko.

"Buyo," she breathed a sigh of relief.

The fat feline stretched, the sunlight silhouetted his pricked up fur before his whiskers raised and revealed a thin set of delicate fangs. Buyo hissed, back arched and fur bristling.

"Buyo?"

And Kagome remembered, when the warm lump in her arms growled _back._

"_Pakkun!"_ Kagome reprimanded with a smack to his nose.

The ninken grunted with a _whuff _before rescinding. "She started it."

"Buyo is a boy." Or at least she thought so…

"There is no such thing as a male cat, pup, they're all pussies."

Kagome dropped the pug indignantly. "Did you just make an _innuendo?"_

"It's true." And Pakkun trotted away from the hissing feline with a grumble of annoyance. "Now get the fur ball and let's go. I smell your landlord coming up the stairs."

Kagome didn't need to be told twice before scooping Buyo into her cloak and dashing over the windowpane.

Pakkun hesitated, but then darted after her, wondering why on earth the pup would be going to the kit's den.

But he followed as all loyal ninken do. Kakashi ordered him to trail the pup once that pasty faced ANBU that smelled like fresh cut paper and dusty silk had started following the kit. So, Pakkun would.

After all, she smelled nice.

…

"He's still following."

"What a fucking _creep…"_ Naruto grumbled.

Inuzuka Kiba scratched his cheek, lingering on the scarlet fang marking it. "He's been trailing us _all_ _day_." Akamaru whined to that fact as well, as he trailed by his human's flanks.

"I can't help it!" Naruto defended as he sent another glance over his shoulder to the thin shadow in the distance, weaving in and out of the throng of civilians. "Damn it, I think he's actually getting closer."

"C'mon then!" Kiba yanked on Naruto's jumpsuit sharply and pulled him into a dim alleyway which was too muddy from the previous days' rain to be feasibly stealthy.

Akamaru panted after them with soft splashes. "We'll lose him in the backstreets." Kiba's voice echoed slightly as they darted over muddy puddles to the more sun-baked areas in between Konoha's downtown marketplace and rickety apartments.

The trivet stopped abruptly behind a huddle of dumpsters to peer out to the bustling noon crowds, to see their tail gone.

"I think we lost him." Kiba noted the lack of scent in their vicinity. Then again, ANBU were quite able to mask their scents. "Or maybe he caught on?"  
"Of course he did, that bastard…"

"He won't follow us down here though." Kiba proceeded to lead on through the inner workings of the downtown backstreets, which were anything but organized. They were twisted and confused things. It wasn't until they reached a dead end, where the back alley of the meat market was, filled with spoiled meat, unwanted innards and hungry stray cats, did Kiba finally resent the fact of letting Naruto train with his team today. Look where it led him. He was supposed to be meeting Hinata and Shino for lunch, not be dodging ANBU like a criminal.

"Why the hell is someone like _him_ dogging your every move?" True, with Sasuke in ANBU and Sakura on hospital shifts more than ever, Team Seven was a little fractured and left Naruto somewhere on the fence of not having a team and yet still having one.

"Why do you think? Teme's bastard of a brother is going off the edge with Kagome-chan and me, he doesn't want us around each other anymore, and told baa-chan 'I wasn't fit to be unsupervised around her'."

"I don't see her now," Kiba pointed out blandly as a butcher stepped out into the hot rotting alley for a smoke break, only to toss a bowl of purplish intestines into a clump of mewing skeletal cats.

"So why is he following you?" Kiba clamped a hand over his nose as Akamaru barked at the cats.

Naruto shrugged and tousled his summer-lit spikes. "The usual. Itachi thinks I'm some rapid demon. You heard Sai back at the training ground, Itachi is going stir-crazy waiting for her."

"So you're going to avoid her all together?" Kiba remarked as if it was the stupidest plan to date. Typically, the blonde should be bouncing around at the Konoha gates by now in wait of the little prodigy. "Sounds like Uchiha Itachi has you right where he wants you."

Naruto shook his head. "No… that's not it. The fact is… he's right." And his eyes were a gaping blue that was like the ocean on a cool dawn after a storm, shredded up and beaten yet still sifting uneasily. "I'm dangerous, Kiba, you remember the last time that damn fox broke free?"

Kiba shifted uncomfortably as a few images floated past. It was nearly a year ago, but from how Sakura had been crying hysterically and how Sasuke was in a panic, screaming at a bestial Naruto with blood red eyes and smiling fangs, it had been pretty bad.

Sasuke had shattered both of his hands in trying to punch Naruto back to his senses and Naruto never got over that small silvery scar on Sakura's shoulder where he nearly ripped her arm out of its socket. Kiba shuddered at the memory of how her thin little arm had held on by a few strings of tendon, Hinata had been crying the entire time Ino healed her.

It still haunted all of them, especially Hinata, who still regarded that day with a deep sorrow.

"Yeah, but you're in better control now, right?" That Wood element guy and the Sannin, Jiraiya, had trained with Naruto nonstop in meditation and chakra control to stem the fox's influence.

Naruto scratched his neck, "Not really… I mean with her... with Kagome-chan… I feel better, ya know? Like it's never going to happen again, but in reality… it's getting worse. _Fast_."

"Huh, well maybe it is getting better but you just… don't feel it yet." Kiba tried to console, but he was never good at these things. "Besides, even if the fox did break through what could one measly, pasty-faced, sociopathic ANBU be able to do against _**you**_?"

"Slit his throat, of course." And one measly, pasty-faced, sociopathic ANBU popped down from the balustrade above. "Before he sprouts one tail, let alone four."

"Of course," Kiba sneered and nearly clocked the guy in his utterly composed and expressionless face.

"Fuck you, _Sai_," Naruto growled.

Sai stared nonchalantly. The scroll in his gloved hands spilled over, and with the two cloth-less fingers on his right hand, he dipped them into the wet ink, spreading it in a thin shadow to accentuate his _sixty-fourth_ tiger of the day. "You do realize, your… _partner, _the midget and the Hyuuga have just arrived back at the village, no less than a forty three minutes ago."

"Partner?" Kiba scoffed, knowing some ridiculous insult was about to ensue.  
Naruto rolled his eyes. "He's talking about Sasuke, this prick has some weird gay

fantasy about us."

"Would you prefer lover? It is far more sentimental, though I wonder how Sasuke-kun gets around you having such a small dick?" Sai mused with fingers cupping his chin. "You must be the _uke _of the pair, then."

"You see? You see what I have to deal with?" Naruto face was a contorted expression of whiskered cheeks and steely eyes.

Kiba snickered. "He never lets up on the gay jokes, does he?"

Sai blinked at the Inuzuka. "Ah, you must be the one he is sneaking off with lately…" Sai looked around the back alley of the butcher shop and garnered Akamaru with a bland stare. "You Inuzuka have very peculiar fetishes."

"Kiba threw up his hands. "I'm done."

"Wait, what? Where are you going? Oi! Don't leave me alone with him!" Naruto hollered at the departing back of the Inuzuka, but it was only Akamaru who looked back with a hint of sympathy.

"It is better this way, dickless; especially with Sasuke-kun back. You wouldn't want him to know about your bestiality phase."

Naruto let out a hot breath from clenched teeth.

"Careful, dickless, your signature just spiked with a flare of the Kyuubi's chakra."

Sai could already feel the small glimmers of presences, other ANBU, tensing at that particular wave of energy that just wafted off the Jinchuuriki like the warmth off a fire that you stood too close to.

Naruto turned on his heel. "Listen." And his voice was low, serious, and from that primal rumble in his throat and the glint of now protruding fangs, the Jinchuuriki looked like he might rip out his spine right then and there. "You don't need me to _see_ you when you follow. You don't need to _see_ me to sense my chakra. As far as I am concerned the only reason you're in front of me right now is to piss me off. And it's working. So in case you haven't noticed—" Naruto leaned forward as he brought a hand to Sai's chalk white cheek. A single fingertip trailed and then, a droplet of scarlet trickled down from a hairline cut, so fine and sharp. The ANBU hadn't felt a thing. "The more you piss me off, the more of a _demon_ I become." And he pulled away a full set of claws, long and curved. The nails were glassy save for the blood. "So _don't_ piss me off. Don't even let me see you and don't you ever let Kagome see you following us…" Naruto leaned back, the sun casting a slatted shadow across his face, half-lit.  
Sai felt a pounding in his ears, a natural response to the bloodcurdling aura this Jinchuuriki was emitting. Nobody knew or even anticipated such _control_ over the demon's chakra or how it influenced him.

Maybe it wasn't control, or even lack thereof.

Naruto then let a wicked gleam cross over his lips, a crooked grin with a single fang clipping at his lip and nearly splitting the tender flesh. "Or I'll tear your throat out."

He said lightly, one eye completely red, like a lambent ruby and the other side of his face in the golden sun with the other eye, an oceanic sapphire. There were two sides to this boy.

"So, _back off_, Sai or I swear to fucking god I'll kill you."

Naruto was letting the demon control him.

…

She had just one stop to make.

"We're here," Pakkun announced and sat decisively in front of an apartment.

"This is it?" Kagome appraised the grungy doormat and the less than flattering doorknocker. It was in the shape of a petunia.

"Floral Green gave that to Kakashi for his birthday."

"Who?" Kagome sent a look down to the pug.

"He means Sakura," said a voice from the stairwell's entrance. "She was twelve and I've always been the sentimental sort."

"She threatened to castrate you, boss."

"Another excellent point, Pakkun."

Kagome looked up and sure enough, was the infamous Copy-nin lounging on the railing with his kitsch little orange book in hand. "I was just about to knock."

Icha Icha closed with a _snap_. "I can see that."

Kagome crossed her arms with an expectant raised brow. "Can we talk?"

"Of course." Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Ah, this is part where I invite you in?"

Kagome just let out a long drawn out sigh.

Kakashi pocketed his book, shoveled through his pants and then fished out a clinking set of keys. Kagome waited, expectantly as Kakashi fiddled with his lock and led on into the dark recesses of his rather cramped flat.

"Wow," Kagome said flatly. "This is even smaller than mine."

"_Was_," Kakashi corrected as he opened the shutters. Light spilled in greedily.

"You know I was evicted then," Kagome drawled.

"I know everything, Kagome-san," Kakashi said as he ensconced himself to the kitchenette. "Tea?" He waved a dinged kettle.

"No thanks." She sat tentatively on a small divan that squeaked. "Then you must know what Itachi and Shisui think about you."

"As well as the Uchiha Clan as a whole." Kakashi nodded and proceeded to flick on the gaslight. "But I cannot imagine you are here to simply gossip, Kagome-san."

Kagome fisted the fabric of her pants. "Itachi and Shisui are convinced that I shouldn't trust you."

"That is what they perceive to be as best." Kakashi hoisted a brimming teapot onto the stove.

Kagome swallowed. "Did you really not want Sasuke to be on a team with me?"

Kakashi paused, but only for a moment. "Yes, but despite my fondness for you, Kagome-san, I have to put my students first."

Kagome nodded, but then perked up. "You're fond of me?"

Kakashi gave an eye-crinkling smile. "Quite so, you remind me of someone I once knew."

"But you're still wary of me."

"As anyone should," Kakashi quipped. "People gravitate to you most unnaturally, Kagome-san and you have a tendency to influence them. The last thing I want is to instill in my students is that the mentality of suicide as an acceptable solution to a very _temporary_ problem."

Kagome felt a bitter taste flush her mouth. "It's hardly your place to judge…"

"Really?" A silver brow shot up. "I believe I have more right to do so, than you yourself, as I am one of few who knows the consequences of suicide more than anyone. I have bore the brunt of it, Kagome-san and let me tell you, it is far more painful for the people left behind than for the one who abandons them." Images flashed like so many other times, he remembered the smell more than anything. His father had asphyxiated for nine minutes prior to death and Kakashi could still remember his glassy stare, the bulging veins beneath the noose, the vomit coating his shirt…

His father had stripped of everything before death. His dignity had been the last.

"It was one time!" Kagome stood and was wound up tight.

"One's actions belies a thousand thoughts and you are a child of thought, Kagome-san. So long as you have acted upon it, it is still present like a festering wound. Do not tell me you never think of it."

"Maybe I have but…" Kagome froze. "…every time I look to Naruto or Sakura or Sasuke, it doesn't even cross my mind. And when Itachi and I are together I cannot imagine ever giving it up, not even for a second…" She shook her head with a sad smile. "Even Shisui and Neji… We're just all…not alone. I don't know but I'm not the only one who can miraculously heal, Kakashi."

Kakashi stared at her, his single grey eye bearing into her for a long dust-settling moment. "I never downplayed your sentiments to one another, Kagome-san. They are precisely why I am so concerned because it is because you are not alone any longer that your actions affect others."

_Every thought of taking your own life is a betrayal to them. _

Kagome 's head bowed and she stared at her boots, where Pakkun curled and slept lazily and the sunlight pooled. "I understand…" And she stood, gathering the small pug into her arms.

"Done with me already?"

Kagome paused at the door. "I needed to know if I could trust you and from what you have said, it seems you are the only one I truly can."

_You are a man of many masks, but you never deceive, just protect those from the gaping pain of losing everyone you ever loved._

"Kakashi-sempai?" She asked, sunlight threading through the doorframe and onto her. "Do you?" She turned to him and her eyes were so old; ancient as the sea and grey with too many storms.

He stood for a long while.

"Do you ever think about taking your own life?"

_Everyone I ever cared for is gone._

Kakashi tilted his head. "Everyday."

She didn't say anything after that, just stared at a man who had lost everything. She left him without another word.

Kakashi raked a hand over his scalp in an exasperated motion.

'_You're fond of me?'_

'_Quite so, you remind me of someone I once knew.'_

And then, Kakashi wondered if Rin were still alive would their daughter be the innocent yet stoic prodigy like Kagome?

It was then the kettle shrieked and Kakashi was soon brought back to the present. "Ah, my tea."

He was alone for the rest of the day.

…

It wasn't immediate, but the first wave hit him like the bristle before an all too close lightning strike. Then it followed after strong, and resonated through his senses and down his spine with a final chill settling between his shoulder blades.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, he didn't have the time to deal with the Dobe and his _problems._

So, he scrubbed stubbornly, in the little washroom, at the wicked bloodstains staining his _white _undershirt because there had been a nice little stack of his clothes, clean and folded, on his already made bed and fresh sheets.

That was not the problem.

The problem was that his mother, had lately refused to clean his room, wash his linens or even begin to touch the loads of dirty laundry strewn across the floor.

The problem _was _the fact that there was _note_.

Yes, a note, one neatly printed in the all too generic and stiff stationary that all ANBU Captains wrote to each other in.

The note, in that ridiculously efficient print that was too neat and precise to be human said one thing—

_You're welcome._

And that's when Sasuke made up his mind.

That he would rather die than wear a single shirt that his brother had washed and folded or sleep in a bed that Itachi had meticulously made and probably wrinkled his nose at.

That left Sasuke with few options, especially since he only had one set of clothes that he was currently wearing and a spare undershirt that he had already bled through. This was not including his bindings which he was about to tear off and spindle to the floor.

There was an oblique little window that let in a muddled afternoon light and a sink that was swirling pink with flecks of dirt in the drain.  
Sasuke unfastened his chest armor and tossed it to the floor with his vambraces and mask. He peeled off the fingerless gloves with his teeth and pulled the damp black shirt over his head. Appraising himself in the steamy mirror, he began the tedious task of removing torn and sticky red bindings from his torso, without reopening the minor flesh wounds that the irritating Med-nin hadn't even bothered with. Aside from the deep bruises that weren't showing and the little nicks that scabbed over onto the gauze that he was currently ripping off, he was in relative good shape, especially since Kagome had nearly sliced off his feet.

The drone of hot running water fogging up everything and his steady breathing as he plucked at his reopened wounds, was broken with a swift knock at the door.

Sasuke yanked the door open with a frustrated breath and dark eyes. "What?" He clipped lowly. He wasn't in the mood for anyone, let alone _her._

"Now is that any way to greet your future sister-in-law?" Uchiha Yui crooned sweetly as she appraised her battered cousin who was attending to his wounds like a blind fool with no fingers. "You're going to get an infection by doing that," she intoned calmly, blinking at his dirty fingernails digging a splinter out of a freshly reopened wound.

Sasuke paused and leveled her with a look. He should probably get Sakura to do this. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. I've been staying in the manor for a few days now." Yui shrugged, as if it was no great feat for her to have finally nestled herself somewhat permanently into the Head's household. Her creamy yukata was loose on her slight frame and her hair was damp and heavily scented as it was pulled back into a twisted little bun. Her face was clean scrubbed and lacking makeup, her usual sharp countenance downplayed by the lack of high penciled-in eyebrows and rouged lips.

"I've been hearing things, things you should know about… the kind of things that Itachi would never want you to find out." Her voice was falling to a whisper and she was leaning in suggestively.

Sasuke felt the same urge with her as he did with a fly buzzing near his ear, but Yui was like this. Nobody knew it but she was sort of flirty thing with him when they were alone, and the fact that he was shirtless and his cargo pants were hanging low, didn't help that her cool fingers were hooking in the empty belt loops and her thumbs were catching in the dips between muscle and hipbone.

Sasuke caught her wrist before she strayed any farther. "What sorts of things?"

Yui hummed, a devilish glint in her eyes. "You didn't even notice that bruise on Itachi's pretty little face?"

Sasuke stepped sharply away from her.

Yui _tsk'ed _and began to walk into the steamy washroom with the door closing sharply behind her. "Who else would have the gall to hit your brother and have him not even dodge, let alone retaliate?"

When Sasuke remained silent and utterly callous towards her, she resumed her predatory gait towards the younger Uchiha.

"Oh c'mon, Sasuke, _say it._ Even you get some satisfaction that daddy doesn't have his perfect little boy on the pedestal anymore."

"What happens between my father and Itachi is between _them_."

"Ah, but that's problem, Sasuke, it's not just between _them_ because they were fighting about_ you_."

"That makes it less desirable to hear then," Sasuke quipped deeply. The last thing he wanted to hear was Itachi sticking up for him—

Yui chuckled. "You are so behind in news lately, it's pathetic. Why on earth would you actually listen to everyone and leave the country while they all met with each other to talk about _you_ and that creepy little girl? And you still think it's wise to remain ignorant? The Clans are talking, Sasuke, ours especially and it all has to do with_ her_."

"Spit it out, Yui."

Yui tapped her lips. "Well, let's see, aside from an obvious rivalry between you and the pretty Hyuuga boy being stirred up and that embarrassing apology your father had to give… you're going to be engaged soon, within the year hopefully. At least, that's what your father told Itachi, but he whispers to the Elders he wants it within a few months." Within a week if he could, but Yui only knew this through her various sources, after all she had been _denied_ attendance to the meeting after that little spat between Itachi and her, with Shisui obviously feeding the flames. But Sasuke didn't have to know that.

"A betrothal?" Sasuke repeated breathily. "To whom?"

Yui ambled over to the sink where a soaked shirt lay in bloody cerise suds. She cranked off the hot water and began to muse over much simpler things. "You should be using cold water, and soap won't work as well as peroxide." A shinobi's wife knew every which way to get out bloodstains.

"Yui—" Sasuke's voice was scathing hot and bladed.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yui snapped as she began to knead the fabric in the sink with knowing hands.

Sasuke froze. It didn't make sense. When he had left, Kagome could barely set foot in the compound without looking over shoulder, but now… _but_— "Why?"

Yui shrugged with pursed lips. "Let's face it, Itachi somehow got the super good genes that our ancestors had so he just needs to continue the bloodline as pure as possible to make sure the next generation is just as strong. That girl, she's of low birth but she's somehow a prodigy and the Clan believes her impurity can be overlooked if she can make up for your shortcomings and actually get us a decent Branch house." The Uchiha were considerably smaller than other Clans and much more _condensed_… if that was a more tasteful term for _inbred_ then the Elders would use it, and so it was hard to organize such an interrelated family into two very distinguishable sects. However, the Branch house served a very vital purpose to the Main house, and of course they would never impose curse seals or any other barbaric customs the Hyuuga orchestrated, but it would be nice to have some sense of ranking within the families.

Sasuke let out another hot breath, gripped the back ends of his hair with gritted teeth and his other hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist. _Still_, they all _still_ weren't satisfied with him yet, not even when he got into fucking _ANBU_. It was _never_ enough. "It's never going to be enough—!"  
And with a thick grunt of frustration, Sasuke punched the mirror.

Yui yelped at the sudden explosion of glass in front of her and jumped back against the wall. _"Are you crazy?" _

Sasuke didn't respond as Yui picked herself up off the floor and scraped along the wall as if one touch of him would set her on fire. She was already gone by the time he opened his eyes.

His image was shattered and bloodied.

He just stood there, listened to the commotion Yui was raising in the distant rooms of the manor and heard quick but steady footsteps heading in his direction.

"Oh, Sasuke…" It was a musical voice, lilting but full of a sighing sadness. His mother closed the door silently behind her and walked over the glass with clinking crunches. She gathered up his split knuckles and was dabbing at the seeping skin with a fresh damp cloth. "Your father and I didn't want you to find out this way," she murmured, eyes downcast.

But the anger and hurt were fading into nothingness, leaving just a gaping bloodless wound that was more a void than anything else in his chest. "Okaa-san…" he began, and Sasuke was turning into that ever-blushing and shy little boy all over again. "Where is Itachi?" The one person who ever bothered to stick up for him was now gone with the only girl he had ever bothered to care for.

Mikoto seemed to wilt even further at that. "Unfortunately, Sasuke, your brother hasn't been taking it very well either…"

Sasuke closed his eyes in resignation. Just when he'd thought he only pushed away one of them…

"He hasn't been home in days."

He pushed away both.

…

The first thing Naruto typically did before peeling off his black and orange jacket and draping his hitai-ate over his headboard was plow headfirst into his sheet-less mattress. From there he would decide whether to slip right then into a dreamless stupor or to groan frustratedly into the fabric and squeaky springs until he willed his body to yield some other movement.

Right at this moment, it was the latter as he tried to gain composure over his little lapse with the Kyuubi's influence earlier with Sai.

Of course those thoughts were dashed when the distinctive _clink_ of utensils and tableware reached his ears along with the whirr of running water. Naruto popped up, hoping it wasn't Sakura trying to clean his little pigsty of an apartment again after another Hospital shift.

She was always much more violent then…

"_**Guess again, kit."**_

But he didn't have to, because a big dopey grin plastered itself over his lips and he couldn't help but dash down the hallway and into the little kitchen, to see _her_—

"Kagome-chan?"

—shuffling a sudsy bowl over to be rinsed. Kagome's toes flexed on the wood floors in impatience at a particular little grease spot, before turning around with gaping blue eyes and a rather vacant expression.

They both blinked and Kagome rinsed off her hands, patting them on her orange jacket—

"Are you wearing my clothes?" Naruto appraised the sleeveless hoodie that was slightly zipped down to see the brim of fresh bindings beneath her collarbone and rather odd necklace. Kagome's little fingers tugged on the dark lobes and fang-like beads, fixating on them.

Kagome shrugged. "Just the jacket."

Naruto's eyes dipped down, and of course she would be wearing those skimpy skintight shorts that Sakura would lounge around in. It was basically kunoichi underwear as far as anyone else was concerned. Naruto tilted his head, realizing he had never actually seen her so _bare_ before. It wasn't the fact that she was quite nicely rounded at the hips for her age _and_ height, or the fact that her skin was a creamy white, but rather the swirling tattoo that marked her right shoulder that drew him forward with a hard expression.

Kagome covered the ANBU mark with her palm before Naruto came any closer.

"Naruto…" Her eyes were downcast, because nobody liked to see her actually _stained._

Naruto smiled reluctantly. "So where you'd get that necklace, Kagome-chan?" He asked suddenly, easily changing the unspoken subject.

Kagome bounced on the balls of her feet. "I've always had it." The beads clicked as she let it roll over her knuckles and between fingers.

"It's cool looking." Naruto tousled her hair, realizing it was damp and smelled freshly of his shampoo. "You used my shower too?"

Kagome scowled. "Aa," she admitted through clenched teeth.

"Uh, Kagome-chan, not that I don't like you being here but don't you have your own apartment to… ya know… shower, sleep, wash dishes in?"

"I _used _to."

Naruto's brows shot up. "What happened?"

"I was evicted."

Naruto couldn't help the lopsided grin that was forming.

"It's nothing to smile about!" Kagome hissed.

But it only grew wider until he was utterly beaming down on her. "Not if it means what I think it does, Kagome-chan…" He then hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her into his chest. "You can stay here as long as you want. Free of charge!" There was a muffled protest but Naruto ignored the squirming thing in his grip. "I can't hear you—!"

Kagome broke free from his death grip with a gasp. "I couldn't breathe, _baka!_"

"Before I agree to anything, there's just one thing…" Naruto tousled her glossy ebony tresses with a smirk and crouched down to her eyelevel. "Say it." He poked her stomach with a ridiculously self-satisfied gaze.

"No." Kagome crossed her arms defiantly.

"C'mon, Kagome-chan… _say it!"_

"_No."_

"_Aw,_ please?"

"If you poke me one more time, I swear I'll tear—"

"Oh, _c'mon!"_

Kagome huffed. _"Fine."_

Naruto leaned back on his heels and waited _patiently_.

Kagome cleared her throat. "Sasuke is a Teme."

"And…?"

The kettle boiled over.

"Itachi is a smartass prick who doesn't know the first thing about being a decent human being and thinks he's entitled to _everything_, to do _anything_ he wants so that he can manipul—"

"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! I just wanted to hear that he was a prick." Naruto slowly uncoiled her tight little fists in his warm calloused hands to quiet the angry little girl who was screaming to get out. "You okay?" he asked quietly, rubbing circles into her diminutive palms.

Kagome shook her head, eyes tightly shut. "They're both… mad at me."

"Sounds like you're mad too, Kagome-chan."

She let out a breath and opened her eyes. _"I am."_

"That's okay," he said softly.

Kagome blinked slowly, eyes following just below Naruto's neckline where a pretty viridian crystal hung on a black tether and between two metal beads. "Where did you get _that_ necklace?"

Naruto fingered the Shodaime's pendant. "Someone gave it to me."

Kagome nodded as she plucked at her own. "Someone gave me mine too. It wasn't a gift, though."

Naruto tilted his head. "What is it then?"

"To remember someone by."

"Is that someone gone, Kagome-chan?" He was treading these waters carefully, for she could snap shut and not reveal anything more in a moment's notice.

She nodded. "Hai, they're dead."

Naruto blinked. "What was his name?"

Kagome immediately stiffened. "How do you know it was a_ he_?"

"Lucky guess," he suggested, his grin too warm in the sultry afternoon light to deny. "C'mon, Kagome-chan, you can't be mysterious all the time. I get to figure out stuff too. Now let's go get some ramen."

Kagome wrinkled her nose. _"Fine."_

"But first—"

"What _now_?"

"You need pants, Kagome-chan. I can see your butt."

"Then stop _looking_!"

* * *

**Author's Ramble:** I would just like to point out, that dickless is not a real word. Also I want to give Kakashi a hug. (T_T) On a quick note, for stupid fun check out my poll. The results will be announced in the next update along with a new poll, which YOU, the reviewers decide on. So suggest random questions and they may be the next:) It's really not meant to be taken seriously. ~KK

**Chapter 21 Summary:** Itachi is on the outs with Kagome and what better way to whisk a girl off her feet than by buying insanely expensive real-estate? But who can compete with a snuggling Jinchuuriki, truly? Well, Sasuke thinks he can and things grow tense during training despite Team Seven's reunion, ANBU plagues them, especially when Kagome is calling Shimura Danzou _sensei_ and is off teaching Sakura sneaky Genjutsu-tricks. And to top it all off, Neji is following her around like a lost puppy and invites her to dinner. Which is great and all, but Naruto is coming and while the fox is away, the weasel comes a knockin' and he means business. And I give you (the quite literal title) "Castle Without Its Queen" coming soon!

Update Schedule

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **January 19**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **February 16**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **March 16**(Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **April 13**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	21. Castle Without Its Queen

**Author's Note:** Thank you all so much for your reviews and well-wishes:) I'm feeling much better now! Though now my mates are all sicky and everyone blames me as being the 'host'. I haven't been that sick in five years…~KK

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty One~**

Castle Without Its Queen

* * *

_I'll burn until I'm ash,_

_then grow once more into wood,_

_then be cut into splinters_

—_sharp._

_then slip into amber._

_I'll seep into your skin,_

—_and live in your blood._

_until then, I'll burn it all down._

_

* * *

_

Kagome thankfully did find pants.

However, they were _his_, another relic of his old Genin days; and they were those muddy green shorts he used as swim trunks or as psuedo boxers. But they were the only pair that even _began_ to fit her slender hips, since her usual attire currently hanging up in the rafters of his apartment, drying out after she had made his kitchen sink black with whatever her clothes had been caked in.

After discovering that Kagome had not only taken advantage of every facility of his little apartment, thus nestling herself permanently into his den, she had also not come _alone._

Naruto was moderately surprised to find Pakkun curled up in a corner at the base of his dresser with a rather stiff ball of fur above, watching the napping pug with wary golden eyes.

_Buyo_ was Kagome's pet (and apparently his as well) and was as readily an outside cat as he was inside; he could fend for himself when push came to shove or Kagome had forgotten to feed him. Either way, Pakkun had trailed after Kagome like a lost puppy throughout _their _apartment, even with Buyo hissing from her shoulder. It had become quite crowded.

So they dashed off to Ichiraku's once Buyo was given a nasty smelling can of cat food and Pakkun had been persuaded to actually _walk _and not be carried by Kagome when they went out.

However, the pug wouldn't consent to sitting in the dirt while they ate, so he snuggled himself in Kagome's lap and sleepily chewed on the bits of fried pork Kagome was sneaking him.

Naruto propped an elbow on the counter, cupped his cheek and piled yet another empty bowl to the growing stack. "I think I'll have one more, Ayame-chan."

Teuchi looked over his shoulder from where he was straining noodles and shook his head. "That's your seventh, Naruto, and you still have a tab to pay off."

Naruto waved him off and anticipated pawning his dinner bill on the first person who was unlucky enough to engage in conversation with him. "Yeah, yeah, I know…" He watched bemusedly as Kagome poked at her noodles with a studying glance. "So you and Sasuke fought?"

Kagome looked up with a placid expression. "Aa."

It was hard to imagine her and Sasuke going head to head and _her_ actually standing on equal footing with him, let alone actually defeating him. She was just so small."What happened?"

"It wasn't a true fight… I didn't have my wakizashi and I didn't use Genjutsu."

"Still, it had to be one hell of a battle."

Kagome smirked. "There is a new unexplained crater in Kawa no Kuni now, if that's what you mean."

Naruto shook his head but his eyes were warm and amused with her spunk. She was a dangerous little thing. "Kakashi wants Sakura-chan to start using Genjutsu; he wants you to teach her."

Kagome tapped her lips. "She has the intelligence, chakra control, and the right pathway structure… but I don't know if I'll have time. Sasuke, Neji and I need to start putting in some training hours or we'll be taken off the immediate roster."

"When do you start?" Naruto asked lowly. He didn't want to hear about separate training or ANBU requirements…

"Tomorrow morning. I want to catch the _three am_ course in Genjutsu attunement and hopefully be at your training ground by eight so Sasuke can sharpen his swordsmanship, maybe even do some collaborative Ninjutsu... then we'll probably go for some ANBU simulation training until midnight."

Naruto blinked. She was trying to get two full days of training into _one._ "Kagome…"

"I'll be fine…" Kagome shrugged. "_We'll_ be fine. Until we figure out better scheduling, this is for the best."

"When was the last time you got sleep?" Naruto accused, noting the purplish hollowing beneath her eyes.

Kagome averted her eyes. "Two days ago…" she muttered.

Naruto let a hand glide over his face. "You'll burn out, Kagome. Just train with… me, Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei every _other_ day so you can at least get some sleep."

Kagome looked up, eyes swimming deeply as storm clouds. "That wouldn't bother you?"

Naruto stiffened. "The only thing that would bother me is you dropping dead from exhaustion. Besides, I'll see you every night now. We do sort of live together." The last bit brought a ruddy tinge to his tanned cheeks.

"But it's not just me. I'm taking Sasuke away from you too."

Naruto's eyes dimmed at that. "I know, and I'm okay, Kagome-chan,_ really_."

She turned back to her practically untouched bowl of ramen. "Alright, then what about Sakura? You said Kakashi-sempai needed me for her."

Pakkun stirred in Kagome's lap. "Kakashi wants Sakura to be promoted to Jounin rank within the month so that they can form a full squad."

Kagome brooded on this. That would make Kakashi no longer their official sensei. Once Sakura reached equal ranking, that would mean her, Naruto and Kakashi would be their own independent Jounin team.

And Jounin teams worked very closely with ANBU at times.

Kagome couldn't help but smile softly to herself. "I'll do it."

"You sure? You might be stretching yourself a bit too thin, Kagome-chan…" Naruto seemed to warn her, but he knew what it meant once Sakura was promoted, and being fluent in Genjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, having superb Taijutsu and inhuman strength made her an excellent candidate.

Kagome nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

Naruto grinned, welcoming yet another steaming bowl of ramen. "Okay, so after this, you're going to bed, right?"

The little prodigy said nothing, but her lack of protest was enough for the Jinchuuriki.

Pakkun lifted his head and sniffed the air. "Hyuuga is coming," the pug informed them, once the crisp scent of fresh cotton and lemongrass hit his nostrils.

Kagome swiveled on her barstool to locate the encroaching presence. Sure enough, walking stately between the noon crowds was Hyuuga Neji, dressed in his pale Clan robes with his chestnut brown hair glossy and his skin clean-scrubbed. He looked relatively refreshed, but his stern countenance made Kagome wary. The afternoon was yellowing on his skin, making it glow lambently and his eyes seem golden. "Tsuru," she greeted quietly.

Neji's head dipped slightly as he came upon his Captain, barely recognizing her in such _vibrant_ outerwear. "Kagome-sama, my uncle and Clan patriarch, Hyuuga Hiashi, would like to invite you and a guest of your choice to dinner tomorrow evening."

Kagome blinked. "Oh."

_So much for a greeting…_ Naruto turned and gave Neji a hard look. "Damn, that was fast. She just got back a few hours ago."

"I too was given a very_ brief_ reprieve, Uzumaki," Neji clipped at the Jinchuuriki, who was emanating a very threatening presence on him at that moment.

It was true, after all, his uncle had nearly ambushed him at the bathhouse to secure plans with Kagome as soon as possible and then proceeded to lecture him on how to address the situation so that _he_ was guaranteed a spot in Captainship. Everything was laid bare to Neji, and he knew he would have to compete with Uchiha Sasuke once more and more ruthlessly than ever.

And yet…

Neji felt no satisfaction in that. Not this time.

"Buzz off, Hyuuga," Naruto growled.

"Shut it, baka." Kagome swatted Naruto's shoulder and garnered Neji with a firm look. "Tell your uncle I accept. But also know, Neji, that we begin training tomorrow, _extremely _early. I will come to you beforehand, but Sasuke and I will be training with Team Seven during the day. You are welcome to join us or train with your own respective team."

If his uncle knew he was about to squander an opportunity to train with her for preference of his own team, he might be disowned _completely_. "I would prefer to stick to your regimen as closely as possible, Kagome-sama."

Kagome tilted her head, eyes muddled with a swirling blue-grey. "Are you sure? Your team is still very qualified to train with you."

Neji denied elegantly. "I am sure."

Kagome conceded. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"Aa," Neji stood unmoving.

"This is the part where you _leave_."

"_Naruto!"_ Kagome reprimanded.

Neji sent an utterly cold and insipid glance to the Jinchuuriki.

Naruto crossed his arms. "_Hmph_, you almost done?" He asked impatiently, knowing that if they didn't move soon, Neji actually might impose himself on them just to suck up to Kagome.

Kagome sipped gingerly on the large bowl with a few slurps. "I guess," she muttered, wiping her lips on her wrist.

"Good." Naruto grabbed her forearm and pulled her after him, Pakkun scrambling not to be stepped on. "Let's go!"

"Where are we going?" Kagome hollered.

"Home." He grunted and pulled her onto his back, hooking his arms around her thighs and taking off.

Neji blinked at the empty barstools.

Teuchi and Ayame looked over at the Hyuuga and the sudden lack of customers. "I hope you know you're paying for this," Teuchi informed the regal Hyuuga.

Neji sighed. "Aa, I assumed as much."

…

"This place is _huge_."

Shisui's voice echoed throughout the apartment impressively as he stalked about the ancient dark wood and skimmed the aged-yellow shoji screens. "I can't believe you paid for the lease on this place…" It was an extravagant amount that surely cleared out Itachi's savings. After all, real-estate so close to Kikyo Castle was reserved for only those high in ranking or with extreme sums of money or _both_, such as retired Kages. The Sandaime ironically _was_ threefloors down.

The Daimyo's officials, the Council members: Mikatado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzo, to name a few, also resided within the great expanse of the ancient center of Konoha.

It was the safest and most private spot in Konoha, being at the center and encircled by lines and lines of civilians, other residing shinobi, walls, barriers, and of course, the ever patrolling ANBU that lived and worked on the very rims of the village.

Few Captains lived here, unless they were retired and had been frugal with their already generous paychecks through the years and_ survived_ to tell the tale.

Kikyo Castle was an ancient thing that Senjuu Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had both requisitioned built and named _together _at the very founding of their village.

It was the only time the two men ever agreed upon anything.

Kikyo Castle was built on a mound in the very epicenter of Konohagakure. The keep was still to this day encircled by the same ancient walls, the original lattice work and the old pines that sat placidly on grassy knolls, overlooking visitors with gnarled expressions. From the single entrance, where jasmine entangled itself like a weed over the gateway, lay a network of swirling gardens of zen and nimble moss pathways that intertwined between the vast courtyards and separated the turrets from the main structure.

Moon-viewing spires and old abandoned watchtowers now were available for lease, at outrageous prices for but a single level.

Which Itachi had just dished out.

Shisui walked through, footsteps echoing, and pulled a shoji screen open to the balcony that encircled the penthouse.

With elbows planted firmly on the balustrade, he leaned over and garnered the breathtaking view of the castle. It stood crisply against the sunlight and wispy cloudlets, in all its regality and opulence; the castle would forever remain open to the public for display, but no one would ever grace her halls or bedchambers again.

She was a plain structure, large, but still relatively humble save for the twin shibi that curled in their gilded scales, golden tails to the moon and mouths sucking greedily at each endpoint of the roof. The shachihoko were fat and hung with charms and wind chimes that sung eerily.

Itachi strode alongside him and let the breeze sough between them breathily before speaking. "I wonder if she will approve…"

Shisui simply shrugged, letting the song of wind chimes lull over him. "I don't know…but it sure is… something else here."

"Aa," Itachi quickly agreed. There was certain stillness to this place, untouched by the years, like dust in the air that had yet to settle. It was calming in the most maddening of ways.

Quick footsteps paddled behind them, and both Uchiha turned to a middle aged woman dressed in a simple, very old fashioned yukata. "Ah, I see you already found the terrace. This stretches entirely around your floor."

Shisui leaned back against the railing and tilted his head at the real estate agent. "What was _this_ building used for?"

"Concubines." She stated simply, proceeding to close the shoji screen to prevent a draft, and then demurely ensconcing herself near a cluster of bonsai trees. "There was once a hidden passageway straight to the Daimyo's bedchambers from here and then on to a shrine. It's an endless cycle, really."

"Huh, sounds like something I would do." Shisui smirked.

"Once that Daimyo was assassinated by an infiltrating kunoichi, the way was rashly cemented by his son, destroying the architecture… However, the concubines were replaced by shrine maidens to upkeep the temple and the succeeding Daimyo's residence was then moved to the capitol." The woman plucked out a straying stem of a bonsai. "You're the youngest residents here and also the first Uchiha, it will be nice to invigorate some old blood."

Itachi tilted his head towards the woman. "I apologize, but I do not follow…"

"It isn't exactly recorded, but your ancestor, Uchiha Madara, lived within these walls for a time and was the one who mandated that the temple be built."

"Huh, learn something new every day…" Shisui shuffled awkwardly. He definitely wouldn't be telling Kagome how she was living in the old house of not only prostitutes but also the murderer of her family. "You sure know how to choose real estate." He nudged Itachi.

The woman blinked at the sudden unspoken dilemma. "If you want, I can show you the atrium, being on the top floor has its advantages, after all…"

Itachi held up a hand. "That won't be necessary. I'll take it."

The woman's face blossomed with relief. "Then allow me to at least give you a brief history of the paintings. The heavy influence of folklore is everywhere here, especially with the various Youkai painted onto the shoji screens…"

Shisui groaned. That was the last thing he wanted.

"In the central courtyard you will be able to find a few statues of Inugami. These particular youkai are very common here within Kikyo Castle and, as you can see on this particular screen—" Her slim hand glided over the panels of thin, near translucent paper. The white swirling mass of a dog stood with a spindly wyrm spilling off into the frothing ocean with blood and foam. Both seemed doomed to perish. "Is one battling a dragon, of course, notice the Tengu in the background leering, this is a very typical scene, but not as much as the Kitsune and the spider…"

Itachi caught the woman's hand before she touched the relic any further. As far as anyone else was concerned, he _owned_ it. "That won't be necessary."

The woman swallowed and immediately deflated like everyone else did around the prodigy. "A-alright, I'll send my assistant in the morning with the papers…"

Itachi nodded. "I would prefer them sent here and not my previous address."

"O-of course." She stammered as Itachi released her gently. She bowed swiftly and excused herself.

Shisui watched the woman's rapid exit. "Huh. What's it like to scare the shit out of every normal person you meet?" He asked earnestly as he turned to Itachi.

"Irritating," Itachi replied deeply, as he stepped onto the balustrade and stood, looking over the baileys and orchards below.

Shisui sighed, glancing up to the palisades dotting the roofs of the other surrounding turrets. "This is a good place to have kids, I mean, look at all the pointy shit they can lose an eye on…"

But there was a hinting seriousness that belied Shisui's musings.

"Shisui…" Itachi warned. He didn't want to broach the subject any further.

"Oh _c'mon_, you have to tell me at least _why _you don't want to ever have kids," Shisui complained sharply, eyes narrowed and downcast. "Who will my children grow up with? They better have cousins, Itachi, or gods help me I'll rip off your—"

"Shisui," Itachi growled, his voice low and crisply cutting over his teeth. "Stop. Talking."

_Shut up. _

Shisui huffed, crossing his arms and proceeding to glare petulantly at an elaborately engraved column.

Moments passed with Itachi staring at the castle, muddled in an ochre light and shadowed heavily. The air was warm but thinning in late summer.

It was a long moment before Itachi spoke, eyes cast off and dark bangs shuffling in the wind. "And if Kagome did bear my child, Shisui, what would become of him?" His voice was so soft.

Shisui looked up, and was silent for once because of the mournful ache in his cousin's words.

"Our… _child_ would surpass us_ both_ in every aspect, Shisui. He would be sought after and exploited tenfold in every way imaginable." He turned slowly, eyes pooling with a grief that was akin to death. He was already a mourning a life that would never be. "Our child would become a monster."

"Then don't have him become a shinobi, damn it!"

"It is unavoidable, Shisui."

"Fuck it." Shisui's face bloomed red and contorted into a wrathful expression. "Fuck you, fuck the village, fuck your insecurities about actually being happy, fuck ANBU, fuck the Clan, fuck Yui—scratch that, that's gross, but seriously, don't you understand that you and Chibi together can just say 'fuck it' and the world might actually stop and listen? Look at how powerful she is! She's _twelve_ and twice as smart as you ever were and stronger than I ever was. Together, you two are unbeatable, if you say 'don't touch my kid', then the village might actually listen! Because let's face it, by the time she's of age and you're a father, you're both going to be so damn protective over that little kid that no one, not even the great Fire Country, will stand in your way."

Itachi remained pensive in the shadow of dusk, eyes set on the swirling wood-knots at the base of his feet. He would rather seep into them and watch the clouds sift and glow for a thousand simple summers than live another year…

Shisui's breathing could be heard over the wind, and somewhere beyond the song of chimes crooned the slow clinking beat of a shamisen. "Why…" He began breathily, "do you feel the need to punish yourself at every chance?"

Itachi looked up slowly. "For someone who has caused so much death, they should not be given the privilege of life, let alone the opportunity to create it."

"Wouldn't that be all the more reason to, then? To atone, by actually giving life to a person rather than taking it?" Shisui's voice was rough in its tenderness, near hoarse.

_Then once more, because you would learn to love them…_

And for the first time—

"I… I don't know, Shisui."

And the subject shifted after that, because the all knowing prodigy had finally been mystified by life's purpose.

All he wanted to do was become something simple, like chilled dust or dewdrops on lilies or ashes under a wilted flame…

Shisui flicked imaginary lint off his shoulder. "What will you do if she doesn't like this place?"

Because life was far too complicated nowadays.

A long moment, still and heavy, as both Uchiha took in the grandeur of the ancient architecture, the rolling orchards of buttercup yellow apples, the teaming gardens with their honeysuckle vines and moss sheathed stones, and the moon-viewing towers with their vast atriums and bamboo fountains…

It was all so… _meaningless—_

And simply, Itachi said, "Burn it down."

Life was far, far too complicated.

…

Head tucked and chin to her chest, she curled into a ball, with two lumps of fur glaring at one another from their positions next to her stomach and legs.

Naruto tried to nudge the fat neko off Kagome, but easily earned a fanged hiss from the feline draped over her hipbone. Which Pakkun responded with a growl at both of them from his coveted position near the little ANBU's chest.

Naruto was about to chuck both of the little pests out the window, because he was currently hanging off his _own _bed at the moment and trying to get _somewhat_ comfortable without waking up Kagome.

Naruto settled on his side with both of his long legs hanging off and eyes fixed on the silent rhythm of Kagome's breathing.

It was cramped, but the bed was warm, and being the stubborn insomniac she was, it was amazing to see her so deeply asleep.

Unfortunately, when Naruto's clock ticked to the fateful time all too soon, he was forced to wake her. It was the moon, really, it was starting its decent into the horizon and was casting long gossamer shadows over the pair, leaving silver silhouettes.

She did say to wake her at two.

_At 2: 34 _Naruto finally had the heart to actually do it.

"Kagome-chan…" He nudged her reverently. Her breathing hitched audibly as she surfaced from whatever dream she was having.

"_Hmm—nnwhat?" _Came a rather muffled reply.

"It's time to wake up," he replied with clear summer-blue eyes sighing with the moonlight.

She was silent, for a few short moments, and Naruto was thankful that she might actually choose to sleep in for once.

She roused with an aching stretch and a tongue curling yawn, as every stiff muscle and joint in her little body popped.

"Hm—what time is it?" she queried sleepily as she sat up with Pakkun curling around her waist and Buyo pooling in her lap.

Naruto stood and began to toe the floor for a shirt, silent because he knew he let her sleep in too long.

Kagome sat, still vacant-eyed from sleep, and contented her gaze on the Jinchuuriki's inky seal on his abs that dipped along his hipbones and into his sweatpants.

Naruto finally found a shirt and pulled it over his torso, tying back the longer strands of hair into his usual nape.

"Where are you going?" Kagome slid off the futon and detached herself from the animals that clung to her like nursing pups.

Naruto shrugged. "Might as well go train too, I can't sleep if I know you're up."

That was the moment, Kagome's eyes slipped to the clock and her body tensed for a split second before bolting to the bathroom to get changed. "_Baka!_ I told you to wake me up sooner," she hissed, slamming the door behind her.

Naruto ignored her and pulled off his sweatpants. Since Kagome was wearing his boxers...

He dressed _quickly._

He was at the doorstep before Kagome could even step out of the bathroom, toothbrush in her mouth and her mask pushed back on top of her head.

"Here, " Naruto handed her the white cloak before slipping on his own jacket and pulling up the collar. The mornings were cooling down, becoming icy. "Is that my toothbrush?"

Kagome wiggled into her cloak before finishing up in his kitchenette and spitting into the sink. "Yeah," she replied, as if there was no problem, and wiped her foamy lips with her wrist. "Why?"

Naruto shrugged, feeling oddly satisfied, and plopped down to strap on his sandals.

Kagome pulled up her hood and began to the do the same, except that her boots slid on and up her calves like a second skin. "You wouldn't have any fresh bindings, would you?"

"No, but you should probably wear a shirt, Kagome-chan." Naruto smirked as he pulled his pant-leg over the brim of his sandal.

"I _am_," she defended, but then proceeded to pull her cloak close to cover the protective mesh and the slightly torn bindings underneath. "My coverall is still damp."

Naruto shrugged. It didn't matter either way. Despite typically wearing three layers, Kagome could never really hide that figure of hers. She was too slight and certain things were just too prominent on her body. Especially when everything she wore was _skintight._

"I'll see you after breakfast?" She asked, with gaping hopeful eyes.

Naruto stood, hovered over her and tousled her bangs, which always brimmed over the mask and hood she tried so hard to cover them with. "Definitely."

And with a smile, she pulled her mask over her face and disappeared into the wind.

Naruto turned on his heel and was about to plop right back down on his futon, he could sleep in for just one more hour, at least…

But as soon as he fell onto the mattress he felt the wriggling things under his chest, hissing and growling and _scratching_—

And since Kagome was no longer there...

"Get the fuck out of my bed!"

Naruto lost all sympathy.

He never did go back to sleep.

…

Reluctantly, she made her way to the Uchiha manor, with Neji in tow, who had already been awake and waiting at the gate of the moonlit Hyuuga district. She nodded over to the stoic crane to follow. They had fallen quietly into step with one another, Neji never prying her for information concerning Naruto's newfound hostility.

She was thankful, and settled into the contemplative silence easily.

It was only the night song of the crickets and the frogs from the nearby Nakano lake that filled in the gaps, for their footsteps were silent. Kagome motioned for Neji to wait at the borders of the Compound.

She didn't want anyone to know of their presence, so she suppressed her signature with an influx of chakra and leapt onto the electric lines with a fluid, feline grace.

Neji waded into the shadows, eyes gleaming like pearls and arms crossing with only the slightest clinks from the metal armguards that he wasn't quite accustomed to yet, and awaited his Captain's return.

Kagome darted across the cords and peered down over the houses as she paused at every beam, before swooping down into the gardens of the estate.

A few droplets of dew quivered, but that was all.

Kagome didn't detect any signature of Itachi, as per usual.

What _wasn't _normal, was that his presence could not even be sensed. The shoji screen to his room, marked by inky crow feathers painted on paper that mixed with the circular crest of tomoe, stared back at her like a gaping black hole.

As far as her _other _senses could tell, Itachi hadn't been in that room for days.

Kagome quelled whatever disturbed her and crept along the stepping stones across the pond, the still koi jostling slightly at her presence. She was getting rusty if fish could still be awoken by her.

She kept to the shadows of the balcony that lined the inner gardens of the manor, mindful of her own silhouette against the moonlight.

Sasuke's shoji door was a pale imprint among the other darkly regal displays. The misty mountains held rolling storm clouds in their rocky grip and stood vigilant over the sprawling moors below, where an ochre tiger lay, yawning in the wake of the lightning.

It was a constant reminder that Fire was Sasuke's heritage, not Lightning.

Kagome slid it open and stepped in. Her footfalls on wood were measured until she approached Sasuke's wide futon.

He slept on his side, his back to her, and that spiky cowlick glared back defiantly. He was shirtless, with shoulder blades dipped and spine undulating, his muscle showing through his pallid skin more prominently and his ribs all the more visible.

Suddenly, without a single movement—

"Why are you here?" Sasuke spoke with sleep still on his voice.

"We have ANBU training." Kagome pushed back her mask and sat beside the unmoving but very awake Uchiha.

When Sasuke remained stubbornly unresponsive, Kagome sighed in frustration.

She forgot how _grumpy_ Sasuke tended to be when awoken.

"Sasuke…" she began slowly, eyes dipping to dark wood floors. "You can't get jealous every time you see Itachi and I together."

There was a shuffle of sheets as Sasuke rolled onto his back, eyes staring intensely back but his face soft in its blankness. "It goes beyond that," he cut in hoarsely, and his calloused hands were reaching out and wrapping around her wrists.

Kagome pulled out of his grip. "No, it _doesn't._" It was simple, clean cut rivalry.

Sasuke sighed frustratedly through his nostrils. "I hate him."

Kagome was on her feet in a heated second. "Don't _say_ that!_"_ she whispered. "Don't you _ever_ say that again." She was pleading.

Sasuke sat up, eyes already brooding, and with his back arched, he pulled further away from her and laced his fingers under his chin. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Sasuke—"

"I went by your apartment, you weren't there. It was completely empty." His eyes flicked dangerously over to her. "Itachi has been gone for days, Kagome."

Kagome gaped. Sasuke was assuming things…

"Are you living with my brother?" he finally got out, and his tone was anything but sharp or accusing. Sasuke's voice was bitter and hurt, like a cornered lamb bleating to the lion.

"No," she replied breathily. "I've been living with Naruto… I haven't spoken to Itachi since yesterday."

"Why?" And the momentary relief vanished, with a newfound bristling in the Uchiha's nerves.

"Because I've been evicted," she stated, naturally assuming Sasuke would be slightly miffed about her living with Naruto.

"No. Why aren't you speaking with my brother?"

Why was he glaring? Kagome blinked. "Wait. Are you mad about _that_?"

Sasuke said nothing but continued his focused glower.

Kagome gaped again. "I just don't get you. _At all_. Why are you mad at _me_?"

"Because Itachi is only ever upset over a wrong somebody else did."

Kagome gave him a flat look. "You mean Itachi doesn't do anything wrong, so it has to be _me_, right?" When Sasuke remained brooding, Kagome groaned. "Ugh, you have the most—the most… messed up relationship. First you hate him and now you're saying he can do no wrong…" Kagome clapped a hand over her forehead. "You have a serious brother complex, Uchiha Sasuke."

"I do _not_…" Sasuke grumbled from his brooding _pose._

"Yes. You _do." _Kagome pressed just as heatedly.

A nasty fit of silence settled between the two. Sasuke broke it with a dark side-long glance.

"Kagome, what did you do?"

"_Nothing!"_ Kagome hissed, fingertips digging into the sheets like claws.

He didn't want to circle around this for hours on end, he wanted to know and he wanted to know _now._ "Kagome—"

"Sasuke," Kagome back lashed with her tongue. Every single time he didn't like her response, it was always her name barked out like a command. She breathed audibly before conceding, however. "He's butting into my life like he has every right. He's making decisions for me...without even the slightest concern for what I might think."

"He's just trying to help you," Sasuke said quietly.

Kagome let out a breath. "I know…" She looked up with wide eyes, a silver halo and a sad smile. "I think he's trying to help all of us."

Sasuke said nothing, but let his eyes fall to the ripples in sheets, like waves lapping silently in the moonlight and swelling over him.

"I just need some time, Sasuke. We both do, things… are complicated, and I can't get over the fact of what…" Her voice fell when she found Sasuke's gaze preoccupied and not exactly _listening._

The urge to snap him out of his reverie was tempting, but she resisted, because the guilt was palpable, and Uchiha Sasuke knew that his brother always put him first, even when Sasuke would not have done the same.

"Come on…" Kagome nudged his shoulder with her knuckles.

Numbly, Sasuke slid out of bed as Kagome went back to the still open shoji screen, stepping into the moonlight like one would slip under a curtain, except this gossamer cloth could not rein her colors in.

"We'll be by the gates."

"Kagome—"

She looked up, eyes swimming with silver and glass.

"I didn't mean it," Sasuke admitted suddenly.

_I hate him._

Kagome nodded with a small smile. "I know."

And she was gone.

…

"Thistime, keep your masks _on_," Kagome reprimanded, leading them on through the dark inlay of tunnels.

Their footsteps echoed. Despite how quietly they treaded, their footfalls were audible at the pace Kagome was pressing upon them. The stone walls were damp and the air was moldy sweet. The catacombs beneath the Hokage monument were really meant for evacuation purposes, but they also received a large influx of ANBU between the natural disasters, foreign invasions and the occasional demon rampage.

ANBU were near, Captains were cloaked and masked, huddled in their clusters in the various inlets or twisted pathways that always kept watch over the main entrance.

ANBU only, no exceptions. Anyone else would receive a blade to the throat.

Light was a rarity. A few sconces were lit and lodged into the stone, their metal claws and glowing embers casting off a sultry glow.

Kagome passed through, giving a strange hand gesture to another cloaked mask before making a sharp turn that appeared to backtrack in their prior direction.

Neji and Sasuke said nothing but kept close, for it seemed every ANBU was nodding off to or giving a disdainful look from behind porcelain to the little prodigy leading them.

Kagome held up a hand, and a trivet of ANBU crossed from a once unseen intersection of tunnels. Once gone, they proceeded just as silently as before, until Kagome ducked into a spacing of stone that barely fit her, let alone the two of them.

Sasuke grunted, feeling his ribs compress and tighten around his constricted lungs. Neji followed suit, which resulted in a quick bout of claustrophobia, where he made a grab for anything _soft_ and Sasuke had to fight to get Neji to let go of his pant leg.

Kagome was shaking her head at the end, one small foot tapping impatiently.

Sasuke elbowed Neji when they both broke through, earning a quick step on the foot when the flustered Hyuuga marched past into the cavern.

Neji huffed indignantly, crossing his arms and sending a bladed look over his shoulder. "I couldn't breathe, Uchiha."

Sasuke ran a hand over his scalp and down his neck. "I had no problems_, Hyuuga_."

"_Boys."_ Kagome hissed so violently, she might as well have had fangs.

Both stilled, but their echoes were still reverberating, and Kagome was pink-cheeked behind her neko mask.

She rigidly turned on her heel and stalked down the rest of the pathway, Neji and Sasuke following the narrow tunnel until it opened to a better lit cavern.

In this dark belly of stone were nine very strict lines of ANBU sitting on their knees, backs straight and masks facing forward; braziers dotted the corners, with a hunched figure at the head of the solemn assembly.

Kagome, Sasuke and Neji fell to the back ranks. Kagome sat automatically, her bright cloak pooling around her and glowing in the fire-light, while Sasuke and Neji sat in adjacent lines next to her.

Neji laid his palms on his thighs and let out a slow breath, falling into the collective rhythmic breath of the group. His Byakugan would have been able to monitor their lungs, but Neji had learned long ago how to observe bodily behaviors without having to watch every detail of the organ.

Sasuke fidgeted and sent constant glances to Kagome, who seemed to meld into the meditation naturally, and from the way the light behind her eyelets was gone, he assumed her eyes were closed. He quickly followed suit and began routine breathing exercises.

Minutes passed, and soon an hour of complete dust-settling silence had ticked away.

"You may all stand now," the shadowed instructor said, with a reverberating voice that jostled both Sasuke and Neji out of their deep meditation.

The lines of ANBU stood sinuously together with only the slightest rustles of fabric heard from the crowd of forty or more.

"This is Genjutsu attunement, you are here to either pursue a likely path or to heal an ever gaping wound," the instructor said.

An ever gaping wound _bled_ and eventually led to death.

"Your weakness in this art, novice or no, is unacceptable," the instructor continued. "We will work on chakra networks today. If you are simply not compatible, than you will complete this course within a matter of days. If found compatible, you will be put under extensive conditioning until you no longer hinder your village. Is that clear?"

The unanimous 'hai' that rang out was nerve-wracking.

Sasuke stiffened. This was specifically aimed at him. Chakra networks were compatible with and appealed to certain aspects of Jutsu and Elements. If he was not compatible with Genjutsu than the _attunement_ would clear up certain blockages that would make him less susceptible. However, he would never excel in the craft.

If not, if he _was_ compatible, than he was liable to labor away until he perfected the art.

This was a diagnosis to see which he was.

The shadowed instructor stepped forth. "Ah, how fortunate, a master of the illusion has graced us with her presence."

Even among ANBU, they all still looked at the very back of the class until the suggested person was identified and a little short of humiliated.

And they were, of course, staring straight at _her._

Kagome didn't flinch, but tilted her head, a gleam beneath her eyelets. "It is good to see you as well, _sensei_."

Shadows slipped off like cloth, and Shimura Danzo stepped forward with a bemused gaze. "Aa, it is."

…

"Naruto, I don't like this. We should wait for Kagome-chan…"

"Do you want to become a Jounin or not?" The blonde snapped irritably from his sitting position. With Sakura's palms placed like sleeping doves on his shoulders, they sat before each other, legs crossed and both equally uncomfortable.

Sakura nodded hesitantly and flexed her hands. "I do, but I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Now, take off the gloves and touch my skin, maybe that'll help." Naruto suggested, a bit more cheerily, as he shed his jacket. After all, the morning was beginning to warm up, and Team Seven's training ground wasn't blessed with a body of water like Team Eight.

Sakura peeled off her fingerless gloves and tossed them among the high grasses. Kakashi was late, as _usual,_ and she had come early to start on some much needed training due to all her hospital shifts, but Naruto had beaten her to it and had done so by _four hours. _Never the less, a sweaty and battered Naruto made a perfect test subject for the better half of the hour, but not without reserve. Sakura (and apparently Naruto too) might be anxious for her to learn Genjutsu to be promoted, but that still meant—

"We should wait." Sakura rescinded her fingertips from Naruto's temples. "I don't even know how to start out something like this…"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I felt a little lightheaded the last time." The _more_ Sakura knew before Kagome began to teach her, the_ less_ Kagome would have to teach her and the _faster _Sakura would get promoted, and _more_ time his team could spend with the ANBU.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know…"

A puff of smoke and a waft of wind broke out over the clearing.

"Yo."

And one Copy-Ninja appeared with a little orange book and a lax wave.

"You're late…" Naruto drawled as he clamped Sakura's hands to his forehead.

Sakura struggled meekly before giving the _true _warning of letting her strength rein free.

"Naruto, Sakura…" Kakashi shut _Icha Icha_ with a snap and strode over to his more rambunctious pair of students. "What are you two doing?"

Sakura ripped her hands away from Naruto's face. "He's making me touch him, sensei!"

"Yeah, well, you better learn how, Sakura-chan. Kagome-chan is good at it."

"I'll wait for her to teach me, _baka!"_

A quick whack to the head—

"_Ita!" _And Naruto was screaming.

Kakashi's brow shot up. Now, this situation called for some serious guidance… "Jiraiya-sama will be here shortly, you two." Which wasn't exactly true, but he hoped the great Sannin's presence would invoke some authority before, kami forbid, he had to actually discipline his _nearly adult_ students.

Both bright-haired shinobi stilled, Sakura's limbs hovering over and aimed for the strike and Naruto's upheld to brace himself—

"_Oh," _Sakura sat back with a glower to her fellow teammate. "We're waiting for Kagome-chan."

Naruto sighed. "Fine. But I'm telling her I tried with_ you_."

"_Hmph. _Go ahead_."_

"_Fine."_

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"_**FINE!"**_

Kakashi cleared his throat, feeling a ringing settle into his ears. "What is this about Kagome-san?"

"_Sensei,"_ Sakura groaned. "Remember? I need to become a Jounin and if I know Genjutsu then I'm pretty much guaranteed a promotion."

"Or you could take the exam like everyone else, Sakura-chan," Naruto grumbled, flopping back into the dewy sunlit grass.

"But it's _hard_," Sakura whined as she toed Naruto's orange and black pant leg.

"Sakura…" Kakashi began, a bit exasperated. "You're going to make me regret my petition for you bypassing the exam."

Sakura shot up to her feet, bouncing on the heels of her boots. "_No, no, no!_ I mean I would be able to pass that exam with no problems but it's not necessary if I don't need to, right?"

Kakashi's blank stare and the swift morning breeze was her response.

"I didn't have to take an exam, Sakura." A clear cut voice sung out over the clearing.

Sakura turned—

Jade eyes brightened with delight. "Kagome-chan!"

Naruto sat up, only to see his teammate bounding across the meadow and over to the dark trio who strangely kept to the shadier parts, where the oaks overhung and the foliage grew thicker.

Sakura tackled Kagome, engulfed her in a rib-cracking hug and swung the little prodigy around.

"I haven't seen you in _forever_!"

Kagome slipped out of Sakura's death grip like tissue paper, fluttering and white in the soft morning glow.

Sakura pouted and sent a look to the dark shadows hanging protectively behind Kagome. "Who are they, Kagome-chan?" Sakura queried, fixing the snake-masked ANBU behind Kagome with glower.

A sigh came from behind the mask that gleamed like blood and hissed. "You're so annoying…"

Sakura stiffened and then stalked right up to the towering ANBU. "Sasuke-kun?"

When Sakura began to repeatedly poke his mask, Sasuke snatched her wrist away with a heated glare from behind porcelain eyelets. "Sakura…" he warned.

The little rosette with the strength of a thousand men blinked like a guilty child with its hand in the cookie jar. "Oh my god, _look at you!" _

Sasuke gritted his teeth. _Here she goes…_

"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto! _Look, look_! He has mask and armor…and you look _so cool_ with that sword, Sasuke-kun!"

Sakura was bouncing around like a little pink flea while Kagome was stripping out of her equipment like it was on fire.

Naruto leaned on his palms and set his sights on the third shadow, who resembled—

"Neji?" Sakura piped. Kagome was just tossing her neko mask on top of the bundle of unwound arm-bindings and white cloak.

Neji remained silent, Sasuke as well. In fact, the two ANBU were taking a few cautious steps back.

Sakura deflated. "Kagome-chan, why are they being mean to me?" She complained at the lack of attention.

Kagome looked over her shoulder, now down to nothing but chest-bindings, her fishnet coverlet, chunky cargo pants and skintight boots that rid up her calves. "I told them the next time they take off those masks they wouldn't have a face to put them back on…" Kagome said simply. "They probably think you're going to steal one of theirs and wear it—thus breaking an order."

"_Oh."_ Sakura stilled her wiggling fingers inching toward Neji's pale crane mask.

Kagome flexed her unbound forearms and fingers, letting them drink in the warm sun. "You can take them off now," she drawled.

Simultaneously both ANBU pulled them off and revealed the all too familiar faces, both drawn and worn out.

"_Drop_ them," Kagome stressed.

Reluctantly, both masks collided into the damp grass.

Sakura quirked a brow. "Huh, now you don't look so cool anymore."

"C'mon, Sakura… "Kagome sniggered and proceeded to drag Sakura away from her two teammates; especially with the way Neji's hair was blowing in the breeze and how Sasuke was brooding while wearing all black was making the little Kunoichi sway a bit on her feet.

"Where are we going, Kagome-chan?" Sakura queried as Kagome marched right past a bemused Kakashi and an annoyed Naruto.

"To _train_," Kagome said, a little hand clamped firmly around Sakura's wrist.

Sakura dragged her feet. "What about_ them_?"

Kagome shrugged. "They know what to do, now _come on_."

"_Alright, alright!"_

The two kunoichi disappeared over the crest of a hill before anyone could protest.

"How was your first training session, Sasuke?" Kakashi shuffled his pockets for his book. Really, his combat pants needed _fewer _pockets so he wouldn't always misplace_ Icha Icha. _

Naruto snorted. "Did you get your ass kicked, Teme?"

Sasuke took a step forward, leveling his best friend with a dark look and proceeding to stride forward with a smirk. "There was no combat, Dobe."

Neji shifted his weight on the soles of his feet. He stood out, excluded from the group and from Uchiha's steady distance he was always placing between them to Uzumaki's newfound hatred towards anything that moved and _wasn't_ Kagome, Neji was being conveniently _shut out._

Sasuke completed the trivet and loomed over Naruto. The Jinchuuriki remained planted comfortably among the grasses, nonplussed that he had to squint and look up at Sasuke because of the sun blaring behind him.

Kakashi tilted his head and began to pat down his vest. "No combat? Then you must have done something rather productive. I can't imagine Kagome-san squandering her time with you." _Ah_, it was in his flak jacket.

"She didn't," Sasuke quickly replied.

Neji straightened. He wouldn't be thrust out of the group _that_ easily. "It was a simple Genjutsu Attunement class."

"Sounds boring as shit," Naruto bit out, eyes steely. Immediately the feral blonde was on the defensive.

"Danzo was there," Sasuke said.

"Really?" Kakashi's visible brow shot up.

"He was her sensei." Neji strode forward and wedged himself into the cluster of men a bit _forcefully._

"Prodigies do typically fall under the tutelage of a number of teachers, usually high-ranking; but their attention is limited due to their aptitude and the obvious lack of time the higher ranks can spare." Kakashi tapped his masked chin with a thoughtful upward glance. "Certainly Itachi never had just one sensei…" Kakashi blinked over to his protégée. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke stiffened but then nodded. "It was still surprising."

"Slightly disturbing," Neji added.

Kakashi clapped a hand onto Neji's shoulder. "Of course it was, it is Danzo after all… _saa,_ though we should start on your training before Kagome-san has Sakura dropping us like corpses with but a glance."

"_Pfft,_ doubt it." Naruto crossed his arms, forearms flexing. "She barely made me feel dizzy."

"Naruto…" Kakashi began.

"You're an idiot," Sasuke muttered. If what he had barely glimpsed this morning was something to take into account, Sakura threading her chakra through the Dobe's brain was probably the most—

"—unwise thing for you to do, Naruto. There is much more to Genjutsu than merely applying chakra to the brain," Kakashi lectured, simultaneously scanning the pages of a fluttering _Icha Icha_. "What's done is done, I'm afraid, and I do wonder, Sasuke… what did Danzo say about your…_susceptibility_ to Genjutsu."

Sasuke shrugged. "I am compatible, if that's what you mean."

The slightest of tensions released from the Copy-nin's long frame. "That is exactly what I mean, Sasuke. It would be… difficult otherwise, especially when persuading you that you may never learn Genjutsu…" The dark aura the Uchiha was emitting was fierce. "But now we don't have to worry about that now, do we?"

"Aa."

Neji lips twitched and the soft chuckle that trickled past made everyone else still. "Why don't you tell them what else Danzo said, Uchiha?"

"Shut up, _Hyuuga_."

Naruto quirked a brow. "What?"

Kakashi slowly closed Icha Icha with a pensive stare to his young protégée. "What did he say, Sasuke?"

A sparing moment passed before Sasuke reluctantly sighed. "My… _susceptibility _is merely temporary and is much more… biological."

"I don't get it." Naruto flicked a grasshopper off his knee.

"My Sharingan is still developing, Dobe."

"Your Sharingan is _premature_."

"My Sharingan is fine, _Hyuuga_."

Kakashi snapped _Icha Icha _shut for the _second _time. And once was _always_ one too many. "It is temporary?"

A rigid nod from his dark little bundle of joy, aka Uchiha Sasuke, was Kakashi's response.

"Well then, it seems we simply wait."

"Kagome said the same as well…" Sasuke muttered, a bit dejectedly. Until this phase passed it would be rather pointless to teach him, like teaching a one-armed man how to juggle.

"Wait, wait, so you're like… a late bloomer or some other crap? Like a chick who hasn't gotten boobs?"

"More like one who hasn't received her menstrual cycle, Uzumaki." Neji was little too self satisfied at the moment.

Naruto let out a howl of laughter and collapsed into the grass gasping.

"—_**the hell**_ are you all talking about?"

Naruto rolled over, eyes watery, and the blurry pink image of Sakura standing on the crest of the hill looking at the lot of them was enough for him to laugh even _louder._

Neji smiled genially at Sakura. "Simply about Uchiha's puberty…or lack thereof."

Sasuke let out a grunt from his throat that resembled a growl.

Kakashi simply delved back into his book, ignoring the mounting soon-to-be's and the fact that it was his responsibility to stop them.

Sakura shook her head. "I just forgot my water…" she muttered, pushing through them. "For a second I thought you all were talking about Kagome-chan."

Naruto immediately stopped laughing. "_What?_ Of course not!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed into jade slits."Then it wasn't me, _was it_?"

"Well, now that you mention it—_wha!_ I'm just kidding! Please don't hit me!"

"Good, because I'll have you know Kagome and I are both very mature in that area," Sakura snubbed.

Naruto snorted. "I don't know about you, Sakura-chan… I've seen Kagome-chan in a towel and I think she's got one up on y—_fuck_!"

Simultaneously, Sakura and Sasuke both landed their respective blows, with Sakura preferring Naruto's blonde fluff-filled skull to Sasuke's quick jab to the ribs with his steel toed boot.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan! But don't feel bad, Teme doesn't even shave yet."

"I do too, Dobe."

"Oh, shut it, _peach fuzz_," Sakura quickly bit out, every bit as pissed as a wet cat, as she fished her canteen out from the pile of temporarily discarded equipment, before making a quick retreat from her rather infuriating teammates.

Sasuke let a purely sinister gleam cross his eyes. "You're one to talk, _Sakura_."

"Uchiha Sasuke, the moment you comment on my breast size is the moment you become _sterile_."

Sasuke tensed and Sakura turned on the heel of her boot, armed with just a canteen, she was about to disembowel and castrate her teammate if he said another _word._

"Shouldn't you do something?" Neji suggested stately, arms crossed as he observed Team 7 turn on each other in sinuous unison.

"Of course not…" Kakashi waved him off, nonplussed, eyes eagerly absorbing every bit of text on the splayed page before him. "This is good training for them."

_And bonding._

…

Apparently getting water took two hours, and by the time Sakura returned, she sported a good gash along her arm, a wrenched wrist and wobbly little limp that couldn't be entirely repressed. Of course, from the wicked gleam in Sakura's eyes, Kagome had an itching suspicion that Naruto and Sasuke were a little_ worse_ for wear than their Kunoichi teammate.

Kagome simply yawned from her little nap and continued on with training until noon.

Sakura was a quick learner, she learned the basics easily enough, and her vast knowledge of anatomy and dabbling in neurology helped smooth the process immensely.

"Keep it steady," she instructed as Sakura threaded the first preliminary waves of chakra through her frontal lobe. "The moment you tremble is the moment the façade thins and tears. It's like a veil, delicate and meticulously woven by _you_. It is the thinnest of masks and it will reveal you the instant you hesitate, betraying you. Thousands of stitches are the foreground on which you base the illusion on and keep steady, but it is anything but _steady_. It is tremulous and _you_ can just as easily be ensued as your victim can."

Sakura's uncertainty sent tremors through her senses. Her fingertips were damp against Kagome's temples.

"Soon you will move on beyond touch and go to distances and then layering until you can set a Genjutsu on an area and leave it for the unsuspecting."

Sakura nodded, and they continued on past noon.

The clashes of metal could be heard across the clearing, and the boys must have been either whacking unsuspecting soup cans or sword fighting. Kagome guessed the latter, which was odd, considering Sasuke was the only one with an actual_ sword_.

Sakura shrugged at Kagome's puzzled look before scrambling over the hill to see what was going on.

Kakashi was off explaining theorems of shape transformation integrated with nature transformations to Naruto, who was respectively drooling at his sensei like he was speaking another language, while the other two…

Neji and Sasuke were going at it like horny bucks fighting for a doe in heat.

With Sasuke striking the Hyuuga in sharp blinding flashes and Neji effectively blocking each and every one with his metal armguards, Sasuke's neck began to flush red all the way to his ears. Neji's fluid grace in close combat obviously made Sasuke peeved that Neji, while unarmed, could brush him off as easily as a fly.

Kagome quickly stepped in for that training as well.

Naruto slipped away from Kakashi's lecture when Sakura began to genuinely question the physics of the subject matter and became the replacement.

And so, the day went on…

Kagome guided Sasuke's strikes with a studied hand on his forearm. "Dip the blade, it is physiologically impossible for his wrist to bend in this direction—good, now see how you would've punctured the lung? Be sure to slip through the ribs, yes, like that, but mind the bone on the way out. You don't want to knick the edge."

Neji sent a flat look over to Kagome when Sasuke's blade had remained prodding at him for the better half of the hour, while he moved in slow motion.

"Almost done," she promised Neji with a shy eye, avoiding Sasuke's heavy gaze pressing on her.

Naruto cleared his throat audibly when Sasuke wasn't paying attention to the sword but to the small hand sharing the hilt.

Kagome meekly stepped away when she was done and approached Naruto. She ducked into the shade of a lush cedar with the Jinchuuriki, who was keeping his gaze fixed on his best friend with steely eyes. Like swords, he kept them sheathed in the prickling afternoon light.

"Shouldn't you be learning that new Wind technique?" she queried, although her usual reprimand lacked solidity.

Naruto shrugged. "Baa-chan says she might not want me trying that without Ero-Sennin or Yamato-taicho." So until either of them could supervise, Naruto was stuck in hypothetical discussion with Kakashi and would be for days on end before any real training began.

"Aa…" Kagome agreed darkly. From what was being tossed around in the discussions, it was going to be a risky mix of two ultimate extremes: Nature and Shape. "I want Sasuke to start harnessing real Lightning, the kind you can only get in storms…"

"Huh, well, that's almost as badass as mine!" Naruto grinned.

Kagome stemmed a titter. "Will you come with me to dinner tonight?" She was hesitant.

Hyuuga's earlier invitation came to mind, along with the added instruction: _plus one._

"Shouldn't this be the other way around, Kagome-chan?"

She shrugged limply, eyes already downcast.

"Hey…" Naruto swathed her in a heavy arm and flicked her chin up with his thumb. "You okay?"

Kagome's eyes dipped to the side despite her face being jerked up to meet his. "I'm just thinking about things…"

—_about how you want Itachi to go with you instead. _

But he never said it, never would.

"You're always thinking," he muttered and leaned her small frame against him; ears to his ribs, she could hear his heart beat thundering. "C'mon, let's get Sakura-chan and go."

Kagome stiffened. "_Wait_, why?"

Naruto tousled her bangs, fluffing them up and earning a cute pout. "Because Teme doesn't need any more help by the looks of it and Sakura is the only one who can help you with these problems?"

"What _problems_?" she said defensively.

"Well, you can't exactly wear my boxers to dinner with Hyuuga, Kagome-chan."

…

Kagome immediately opted for something more traditional.

However, Sakura quickly discouraged the creamy yukata for something more modern. So there they were, crammed in the umpteenth little shop in downtown with Naruto waiting patiently outside in the gritty afternoon.

Kagome glowered at the frilly sundress. "I _hate_ pink."

Sakura looked offended and shelved the garment before fingering the numerous hangers. "Yukatas are expensive and the ones that aren't are tacky."

"I'm going as a Captain, not a little girl, I would like to cover up the latter as much as possible." And the simple uniformly colored yukata never failed.

"Well, what happened to the last dress I bought you? It was white and pretty and lacey and perfectly sophisticated…" Sakura mused, inspecting a manikin with a trained eye.

An image of a pile of ash flashed back to Kagome. "I'd rather not say…"

Sakura paused her urgent search in the clothing racks. "Please don't tell me Itachi found it…"

Kagome looked down to her toes.

"Ugh… where are your other clothes?" Sakura inquired absently as she began poking at a threadbare cotton sleeve.

Whatever smidgen of contentment that had been salvaged was instantaneously crushed when Kagome remembered how Itachi had not only broken into her apartment and gone through her things but also took said things, moved her out and chose all on his own a new place for her live…

_Oh, and by the way, you can't talk to Hatake Kakashi for no reason at all, just because, and I almost killed his puppy, _sung that bitter little voice that imitated Itachi all too well. _Oh, and by the way, how was your mission? Horrible? Yeah, me too, even though all I did was lounge around the village while you were surrounded by dead people and demons and my pissy brother and whatnot…_

"Kagome?" Sakura waved a hand in front of the brooding prodigy. "Kami, you look like you're gonna kill someone."

Kagome blinked. "I'm fine."

"Good, because you're trying this on. It's modest at least."

Kagome tilted her head and examined the rather plain garment. The dress was a deep plum color, simple in cut and came to mid-thigh with sleeves skimming the elbows. "Alright."

"Really?"

"Really."

"_Yay!"_

And that was the end of that.

…

"You did get a gift, right?" Naruto asked, combing his slightly damp hair in the mirror.

With a towel wrapped firmly around her frame, Kagome turned off the blow dryer blaring on her wispy short tresses. "What?"

"A gift. It's a thing the Clans do, or really anyone does if it's a formal dinner… you bring a gift for the host. You didn't know that?" Naruto said to her in the mirror.

Kagome's bare shoulders tensed. "No. I didn't. They're rich as hell, why do I need to give _them _a gift?" Wasn't it _their_ job to impress _her?_

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is that every time Sasuke would drag me along, Mikoto-kaa-chan would always give them an orchid or something…"

Kagome groaned and buried her face into her palms.

"Here, get dressed, I'll go get the gift and meet you there."

Kagome looked up. "Really?" Such an utterly simple and brilliant plan…

And why hadn't she thought of that automatically?

"Really," Naruto assured her, pulling a plain black tee over his under shirt.

"I can be done in a few minutes—"

"Nah, its fine, Kagome-chan." Naruto darted out of their tiny bathroom and began scouring for his Jounin vest.

"Okay…" She leaned against the doorframe as Naruto pocketed some ryo and headed for the front door—

But not before pausing by her, hovering over for the briefest of seconds and giving her a quick peck on the forehead. "See ya soon?"

It wasn't forced or insistent, just innocent and warm…

Kagome's eyes were fluttering but she managed a nod.

And Naruto was out the door within the next second.

Kagome tentatively touched the warm spot just below her hairline. It was starting to burn, in that tingly sort of numb way. Her ears felt very hot at that second as well.

A few more minutes passed than what was typical for Kagome to snap out of her stupor, look at herself in the mirror and repress the giggly little smile that was creeping up on her lips.

She breathed shakily before unceremoniously dropping the towel to the tile, effectively leaving her stark nude and no longer _hot._

Kagome slid into her undergarments numbly, all plain black, and went for the bra instead of the classic bindings. She slipped on the deep wine colored dress and noticed how the thin fabric clung perfectly, and what was meant for mid-thigh went straight to her knees. She had the shape, just not the height.

It was a nice color, her hair accented the darker undertones, but her eyes clashed fiercely and it annoyed her.

Kagome quickly went for the few toiletries she and Sakura were able to pick up, and by the time she was finished, she was a jittery mess from her mind swimming and the stress of being excruciatingly late.

Buyo mewed at her ankles, tail curling around her calves, and looked up with honey-gold eyes.

"Hungry?" Kagome scooped up the fat neko and scurried over to kitchen.

Three devoured cans later, Buyo settled back down on the windowsill for another nap, and Kagome was fussing with her stubborn bangs.

It was the _knock_ that made Kagome nearly jump out of her skin.

The swift beat on wood made Kagome quickly regret not departing sooner.

"Coming," she called, slipping on her black velvet flats for a quick getaway.

She opened the door hurriedly—

"Itachi…" she breathed, feeling her heart rate scale.

And there he was, looming in the doorway. His face was a ghost of a boy, hollowed and worn, with bottomless eyes that she could never decipher completely and would always delve into, endlessly.

He blinked, forearms crossed and long elegant fingers cupping sharp elbows. "You're going to dinner?" His gaze appraised her attire.

It wasn't a question.

Kagome nodded anyway and stepped out with the door closing behind her. "With Hyuuga, yes."

"This is no genial invitation, Kagome, they are—"

"I know what they are doing, Itachi," she said, slowly, utterly calm.

_Using, exploiting, bribing…_

She knew the games, the underhanded, knife in the night politics that all Clans did to entice Captains to promote their sons and heirs.

"This is beyond what you perceive, Kagome. My Clan will compete ruthlessly to guarantee Sasuke's captainship…"

"I know."

"No. You _don't."_ Itachi took a step forward, limbs unfolding.

"Itachi, I won't confuse your Clan's actions with yours, so if you're here to claim innocence then don't waste your br—"

He gripped her shoulders and she nearly folded in his grasp. "I have not… been entirely forward with you."

"Oh, wow…really?" she drawled with a blank expression. "Thanks for the revelation."

"Kagome…"

She stepped sharply out of his grasp. "If this is the point where you completely unload and decide to actually trust me, then by all means, go ahead, but if you're only going to reveal a bit of information to get back on my good side then I'm leaving."

When Itachi remained silent, Kagome let out a weary sigh that quaked her fragile frame and threatened to give.

But she didn't leave.

_Not this time._

Kagome looked down, avoiding the tremors on an otherwise perfect façade that Itachi always put up. He was struggling with something, something that ate away at him like a gnawing parasite and hollowed him out like corpse. "What is it? she croaked finally.

"_Everything_… every move, every word, every action, every step that I take, Kagome…" His voice was liltingly sharp.

But he didn't finish.

_Not this time_.

They were ensued, too tightly bound by red strings that pulled on them like dolls and tangled them together, like veins to a heart.

"What is it?" she asked again, tentatively, already lacing her fingers through his own.

_There are some things, I never wanted to tell you…_

"You can tell me," she said.

_Things I should've prevented or solved. _

"Trust me."

_Just know, I've never tried to hurt you._

"Itachi…"

_I just wanted to—_ "Protecting you from the facts is no longer an option. My little brother has become of aware of it as of yesterday, however… I cannot imagine Sasuke being forthright with you."

_Must run in the family,_ Kagome thought bitterly, but she squelched the nauseating bitterness in her gut. "What?"

"In order to undermine the Hyuuga, my father has gone to the extreme and wishes to exact a betrothal on both you and Sasuke."

Of course, aside from the fact that _punishment _could have been easily interchangeable with _betrothal_, Kagome remained rather stupefied at those words. And so, a nice hearty, "_what_," was in order followed by, "you couldn't have done _anything_ to prevent this?"

"I…_tried."_ There was a hollow breath.

Kagome's eyes cut through the dusk and picked up the last trails of the bruise. Yellow pinpricked by the slightest cusp of purple that stilled marred Itachi's cheek. It healed fast; yesterday it swelled a hearty ruby-wine color under the flesh, still pulsing and spreading out through the tissues. Yesterday they hadn't spoke of it. Today it was only the faintest of yellows.

_Unnatural healing…_

"Is that… because I…"

And of course, she would be far more concerned with a small bruise than her own future being entangled with his little brother's.

"Possibly," Itachi said, and he was regal once more. "When you nearly… _blinded _me, Kagome… you quite literally took the energy back."

Kagome swallowed hard, swift words said under a night sky in a foreign country to a boy she had just met—

Neji had been a nice confidante. He was objective to a fault and beautifully pragmatic.

'…_I was so angry… so angry that I gave a part of myself… to him, selflessly and completely, that it nearly left me empty…all so that I could preserve his life and yet… he went behind my back, thought he knew better, arrogant bastard and… then, I wanted it back, for one second I wanted it __**back **__and…'_

"It's… signature, the shadow of something much greater, was left within and from then on has resided."

_I have your energy pulsing through me, even if it's only the smallest of remnants…_

Kagome mouth hung open. "I-I healed Sasuke," she said breathily, eyes frantic. "What happens if I get angry again, Itachi, and it comes_ back to me_—I don't want to hurt him!"

"You_ won't_," Itachi said, gripping her shoulders.

"You're lying…" Kagome's voice sung.

"Sasuke will be fine, Kagome… I wouldn't allow otherwise." There was a deathly finality to his voice, one that only a god could promise. A soft breath sighed over his lips. "There are _other_ risks, however, ones that you are taking that are… _immense."_

"What are you talking about?" Kagome immediately stiffened, mulled over his words and corrected, "_who_ are you talking about?"

"You're living with him," Itachi said bluntly.

Kagome's voice swiftly twisted into an embittered defense. "Because _you_ moved me out."

"I have already previously stated that I have made other arrangements—"

"I don't want other arrangements!" Kagome yelled hoarsely, her voice echoing throughout the rickety metal walkways.

Itachi paused, his eyes studying her.

"I want my old apartment back…" she muttered. Her voice was deflated. "That was my home, Itachi, and you dismissed it like it meant nothing, dismissed me and my thoughts. Just like when you went to the Hokage and…" she shook her head. "It won't be the last time, will it?"

He broke her gaze for the first time.

"You'll just keep on doing things no matter what I say."

"Kagome…"

"And you have Sai following him." It was such a blatant statement, the frigid tenor that rimmed her teeth. "Don't think I haven't noticed…" He was there, lingering in the woods while they trained, up in the rooftops while they slept, among alleyways while they ate…

"He's aggressive." Precautions had to be taken, especially with Naruto's newfound feral behavior.

She bristled immediately. "He can't help it."

"No, Kagome—_you _can."

Kagome swallowed. _Hard._

"Every day you are with him, every minute, every _second_ you test the boundaries. You tread the waters of an ocean that will storm, Kagome, and you will drown from it."

A chill laced itself through her at those words.

The demon was reacting to her. It was far too coincidental for her not to notice, but she repressed her reservations, because Naruto was too kind-natured, too pure and brightly glorious to be overtaken by a bloodthirsty demon. Naruto had a strong heart, one that could overcome any obstacle.

He was so unlike her.

That was what made her lean on him so.

"So what do you want me to do? Move out and live with you in the Uchiha manor?" she asked incredulously.

Itachi blinked, not exactly. "Preferably." But it was better than nothing.

"_Ugh—!"_ Kagome childishly stomped the pavement. "This has nothing to do with the Kyuubi acting out, you just can't stand the fact that I'm living with Naruto. It—it _bothers_ you, doesn't it?"

Itachi paused, dark eyes swimming with thought. "Why wouldn't it?" He said, _all too simply._

_So I'm supposed to drop everything in my life to appease your insecurities?_ Kagome gaped. "And you don't think it bothers_ me_ that you are betrothed?"

_Speaking of insecurities…_

"You are as well, Kagome."

Kagome gave him a flat look. "Not yet, and that doesn't bother you nearly as much as it bothers me that you are engaged to _Yui_."

Itachi's face slackened, the taut expression he was keeping faded into a glazed stunned front. "I was not aware—"

"I just don't say anything about it!" Kagome hissed. "You don't think it bothers me that I only have a chance of a future with you by marrying your brother? You don't think it bothers me that you would sooner throw your life away in ANBU married to a bitch instead of settling down with…with…" her eyes were wide, glistening like sapphires baked in a volcanic fissure. They were a dark color. They were _alive. _"With me?"

And there it was.

The bare-stripped truth.

But Itachi only staggered a step back, ran a hand along the bridge of his nose, pinching it with a weary sigh that heaved every rib in his lithe frame. "Shisui…" he cursed, eyes shut tightly in a grimace.

"No, don't even begin to blame him," she warned, because even through all of Shisui's joking and hints, there was a truth, her unvoiced desire for more for them both.

Kagome's thoughts were her own, independent, and never the source of Itachi's _delusional _cousin.

But Itachi only took another step back. There was a mind-splitting migraine settling between his temples, and it felt like someone had tossed razorblades into his skull with a good shake.

Kagome took a step forward. "Itachi?"

Itachi's face twisted into a pained expression. He wouldn't look at her, and his bangs tossed shadows and obscured the curling of his lips. She never saw his teeth dig into lips.

She placed her hands so delicately on his forearms."What's the mat—"

But he immediately rescinded—no, he completely threw her hands off him. "I can't give you children." He stood erect now, his face showing only the slightest of tremors.

Kagome stilled. "I…" she tilted her head. "What..? Where _the hell_ did that come from?"

"Shisui has been telling you—"

"Since when do you care about what Shisui says?"

"Since he started giving you false expectations."

Kagome clamped her mouth shut and gritted her teeth. "I have no expectations for you, baka!" She whacked him on the shoulder and her fist rebounded like a pebble off a mountain. "Is this what you've been so worried about? _This?"_ Something that couldn't even begin to apply to them.

Itachi settled his gaze on the metal railing, rimmed purple and red in the dying sunlight. "You want to… settle down?" He seemed to sneer at the word, before looking back at her, eyes too open and swarming with dark emotions. "What else… am I supposed to assume?" he nearly croaked.

"_Oh…"_ Kagome shook her head and her guard crumbled at the sight of him as she gathered his hands up to her face. They were both so cold. "Itachi, no, no… I'm happy with whatever you can give. I just… want to settle down, for all of _this_ to stop one day… I just want peace. More than _anything else_." Because what kind of mother would she be if she reared her children to be murderers?

Itachi's fingers twitched on her cheeks, cupping her face. He silently agreed. Relief was threading its way through him.

Kagome smiled with a sigh. "I'm still mad at you, though."

Itachi raised a brow. "Not in the least bit surprising," he said, an expecting glimmer in his eyes.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Do not fool yourself into believing that your influence over the Kyuubi is purely one-sided."

"Are you implying that I'm turning feral as well?"

"On the contrary," Itachi began, regarding her with a bemused expression. "You are quite civil, but highly emotional as of late."

"Hn," Kagome grunted and dropped his hands. "I get mad at you one time and now I'm _emotional_?"

"You have always been so, however, it is manifesting in more… _aggressive_ expressions."

"It was one time!" She quickly defended. Granted, that one time resulted in him being knocked unconscious and nearly blinded.

"You did comment on the physical confrontation you and my brother engaged in, Kagome…"

Images of her and Sasuke's little bout in River Country came back to mind. So there was a new crater…so what? "He pissed me off."

"My point exactly."

"You're infuriating," Kagome groaned and turned on her heel.

"Again, my argument is strengthened."

"Ugh, just stop talking…"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Ah, and it all works out in the end… heh, not! Anyways, very much enjoyed writing this chapter, it seemed more rounded out and not so centered to me. Thoughts? ~KK

**Poll Results:** When you were all posed with the dilemma: _Your favorite Naruto couple/pairing on FFnet comes to life and discovers what you have been deviously reading/writing about. The male counterpart would… _You all chose: Be bound, gagged and stuffed away into your closet, by majority of **26%! **Now, for this week's challenge: You **must** participate in a dare, granted each results in your untimely and excruciating death at the hands of your victim, but hey, it's worth it so you choose to…

_**Suggestions for Polls are always welcome, this is just stupid fun:P**_

Update Schedule

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **February 2**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **February 16**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **March 16**(Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **April 13**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	22. Thousand Wolves At Your Back

**Author's Note:** Bah. I'm sick again and its muggy where I'm at… so I'm going to type away and be here all night, good yes?

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Two~**

Thousand Wolves At Your Back

* * *

_you know what they say about funerals, right?_

_only the living give a damn_

* * *

She was late.

Horribly so, and from the way the escort from the gate had greeted her (if it could be called a greeting), she had probably grievously insulted the Hyuuga.

However, all anxieties were dashed once Kagome was led through the district. It was an enchanting place, after all, especially at twilight.

The markets and dojos were closing down for the night as all the regal and pale-robed Hyuuga drifted back to their manors like unworldly men and women; all so calm and tranquil, they each nodded at her with genial smiles. Their pale eyes all laced with sunlight, like wine and pearls.

Kagome fidgeted with the hem of her dress. She felt a little too_ bare_. She would have preferred her armor and mask to the thin plum-colored garment at the moment.

Eventually her escort showed her to the center, where all larger estates laid; the Main House manor was an ancient craft to behold, even in the swiftly departing light. The tops of the balustrades glinted with the last rays of daylight, while the low bearing wooden structure splayed itself wide and inviting with pines and old cedars.

Delicately, Kagome padded along the moss-covered stones across a vast shallow moat encircling the estates. They glowed like paper lanterns on the waters with their shoji screens.

Fireflies drifted idly across and the sweet scent of incense curled along with the distant hum of a shamisen. Large koi swam under the murky waters, slightly tilting the delicate lotus flowers that were closing from their daily bloom.

The gardens melded into an orchard and the stream of a bamboo fountain reached Kagome's ears before the Hyuuga escorting her creaked open a gate and took his leave of her.

Kagome timidly stepped forward. The stone path was much more manicured, and she followed the side entrance, apparently being denied the front due to her tardiness.

Her footfalls, which she deliberately let be audible against the wood, and the soft crisp pitter-patter of her small flats went unanswered as she walked along the terrace.

Finally, Kagome rounded the corner to see her bright-eyed and perpetually smiling Jinchuuriki waiting faithfully outside for her.

"Naruto…" she breathed, scuttling over to him swiftly.

Naruto turned around, a small spindly orchard nestled in a pot in one hand and another outstretched, _waiting._ "You're late," he murmured into the soft wisps of her bangs. She was using his shampoo.

Kagome took his warm, calloused hand. "I know."

"They almost threw me out," Naruto smirked down at her.

Kagome's head jerked up immediately. "Why?"

"Didn't believe that you actually chose me as your guest," Naruto grunted, the glow from the paper shoji screens shown lambently on his tanned skin. "C'mon," he said, pulling her along and down the entryway.

Kagome could only bite her tongue and follow.

…

The resonant din of tableware was all that could be heard. Aside from the pitched murmurs of Neji and Kagome and the fiddling of Hinata's creepy younger sister who was much too eager to join in, Naruto was restless. The blonde gave a side glance to Hiashi at the head of the dinner table. The Hyuuga patriarch was observing his nephew and Kagome with a studied gaze, keeping only a few choice words for his commentary.

Life carried on, while Kagome was blissfully unaware that Hiashi had a second daughter and one that didn't look like it wanted to eat her alive.

Hanabi snickered as she prodded her dumplings. "You've been to Mizu provinces?"

"Once," Kagome nodded. "I had a hunter-nin track my every movement, but yes, I aided them when they requested me."

Neji threaded his fingers under his chin, flicking a glance to a very stiff Jinchuuriki. "Truly? Which province?"

"_Glass_, and it is one of the most isolated and foreign places I have ever seen. It is very tribal with nothing to unify them and they are almost always fighting."

"I assume they are not shinobi," Hiashi intoned, blowing serenely on his tea.

"No, their chakra networks are nowhere near as developed as ours and the land is completely made up of ice lakes; except for the beaches, of course." Images of long stretching planes of ice reflecting pale winter skies drifted to mind, where crystal sand beaches met deep blue waters.

"Sounds like Iron," Naruto grunted out.

"Iron?" Hanabi perked up, looking at him with her creepy eyes "Where's that, Neji-nii?"

"Far to the east, they have samurai instead of shinobi," Neji explained, pushing his plate away.

"Have you been there as well, Kagome-sama?" Hanabi chimed.

"No, but I would like to someday."

"When I get into ANBU, you must bring me with you, Kagome-sama."

"Hai, but only if Neji wishes to accompany us. _Would_ you like to, Neji?"

"Of course, Kagome-sama."

And_ that_ is what riled Naruto's nerves most, that both young Hyuuga addressed her so formally. She wasn't some deity or hime or Daimyo to be bowed to or have a shrine built for, she was just—"_Kagome," _he corrected under his breath. His jaw was clenched.

All chatter dimmed.

Neji elegantly arched a brow and Hanabi gave the Jinchuuriki a strange look.

"Come again?" Hiashi said, setting down his tea with a soft, audible _tap._

"Her name is Kagome. _**Ka-go-me.**_ That's it. So drop the '_–sama'_ before I tear out your tongue, you little _brat_."

"_Naruto—!"_ Kagome hissed, her nails digging into his wrist. "What's _wrong_ with you?"

"With_ me?" _He whipped to face her, his eyes steely; the calm before the storm, the blade before the blood. "What's wrong with _you?_ And what the hell are you wearing?"

Kagome jumped when his fingers pinched the thin fabric over her hipbone. "Stop it!"

A jostle of the table, and Naruto's eyes slide to a now standing Neji. The Hyuuga's eyes were pale disks, reflecting a near-feral Jinchuuriki towering over a small girl who was more scared for him than for herself. "Uzumaki, control yourself."

A deathly silence filed in, and Kagome brought a soft trembling hand to Naruto's gripping her skirt. She winced at the motion that brushed along her skin. His nails were claws.

Neji felt the chill settle in the air, that incessant buzz, before Kagome's power struck and silenced whatever it targeted. His Byakugan threaded its way through his temples and his eyes took on a glassy sheen as the world bled out before him.

The Jinchuuriki, or rather, the swirling mass of red chakra that stained his rather perfect ivory world stared back. The chakra thrashed out in bloody flames that threatened to throttle the tiny bundle of life energies and chakra beside him.

"_Uzumaki—"_

But Kagome, the brilliant and small body of intricate chakra and energies interlaced her hands with claws. Neji watched as the demonic energy pulsed and flowed into her before dissipating. It was like watching blood seep into water; it was nothing to the purity.

It was unlike the last time Neji witnessed her, with Sasuke delirious, puking and clawing out his throat because he believed he had the ashes of a thousand dead villagers coating it. Last time she _healed_.

'—_it was a wound of the mind, '_she had said and her life energies had blurred and her chakra disappeared for something unworldly to surface in its stead.

This time her chakra flared intensely, nearly having the same effect as it disappeared in its own brilliance. Her life energies soared, thrummed with every sip of demonic chakra she _fed_ off of.

Naruto let out a rumble and it was like thunder in his throat, but the storm passed, and his eyes cleared.

Kagome let out a heavy breath, with her heart thundering in her ears and Naruto's hands enrapt with her own.

Naruto left without a word and Neji took a few swift steps to follow suit.

"Neji, _don't._"Kagome wasn't commanding, she was pleading.

"Let the boy go, Neji," Hiashi ordered coolly. He was utterly calm about the situation. "He is simply being petty."

Kagome stood abruptly. "I'm so sorry for all of this, he's normally—"

Hiashi raised a hand, a fluid motion to cease her drivel. "No need. You cannot control a Jinchuuriki any further than you can control a beast."

Kagome bit her tongue. "I should go speak to him." She didn't finish what she initially started and she needed to_ heal_ him. Kagome made a move to follow out the shoji screen left ajar by Naruto's abrupt departure, but stilled when Neji took solid steps towards her. "I'll be fine," she whispered when he loomed over. "I'll send him home and be back for dessert," she promised, but if anything she would be slipping out the back with her Jinchuuriki in a moment's notice.

But that was Neji's fault; he was far too trusting and obedient, and his Captain was gone before he could even reclaim his seat.

Hanabi bounced on her knees. "You don't think he's mad over Hinata not being invited, do you?"

Neji tucked his robes under him and mulled over the steaming amber liquid in his cup. "I believe he is upset for many reasons, some unsaid and some unknown even to him."

Hiashi simply nodded. "Aa."

…

Kagome followed his trail easily enough. He was like a bright gleaming light that burned like sun and screeched like dying stars. She brushed through the hallways, past maids and clansmen. She ducked through the kitchens, with their cooks, steaming pots and flaming meats. She traipsed through the courtyard, over the pebbled walkways, the wind tossed grasses and tepid pond waters.

She found him on the outer rim of the estate, his eyes glued to the sky, purple with a fresh night and dusted with twilight. The crickets rattled far off and Naruto kicked the air from terrace's edge with an arm wrapped around the balustrade for support.

She didn't say anything, just silently walked over and sat next to him. Her eyes followed his gaze and watched each star poke its sparkly little head out for the night, one by one.

"You mad at me?" he asked, after a long moment's thought.

She just shook her head and proceeded to rest it on his stiff shoulder, which melted quickly under her weight. "I'm just wondering what goes through that skull of yours…" He was calm. The only healing he needed was her presence.

"I just get so angry nowadays…" Naruto sighed and let his free arm snake around her torso. His fingers plucking at her ribs, he could feel every silent breath she took. She wasn't the least bit scared of his receding claws. "Hiashi has a daughter, Hinata, and she's not even there."

Kagome nodded. She remembered seeing a Hyuuga girl tucked behind the Aburame and Inuzuka when Naruto returned from a mission. Team Eight. He trained with them often. "Maybe she is on a mission."

"No, she's not. I was just with Kiba yesterday."

Kagome leaned further on him. She understood Naruto's protectiveness over his friends and it was obvious this girl was being excluded, but it wasn't sitting well with her that he took such a prerogative to embarrass her for it.

"Neji nearly killed her a few years ago," Naruto gritted out.

That explained the near constant hostility towards her teammate, but it was in the past, and Naruto had never held near-death against anyone for long. Hell, how many times had he and Sasuke come to blows with serious injury?

"That's not all that's bothering you," Kagome stated. "You nearly ripped off my dress, baka."

"It just pisses me off, you sitting there with_ them _and they all are so nice and fake just to get on your good side, and yet Hinata would give the world just to get that kind of approval."

_Again, back to the Hinata girl,_ Kagome thought irritably. "What's wrong with me wearing a dress?" Itachi burned her last one, Sasuke stripped down to cover her last time and now Naruto nearly had the Kyuubi break loose and tear it off.

Naruto's eyes flicked over to her. They took on a reflective feline sheen and stared at her for a long while. "It's not like you. You're like a doll when you wear it."

Kagome's back stiffened and she lifted herself off of him. His hands remained where they were, however. "It's what women _do_."

"You're not a woman, though," Naruto said just as harshly back.

Kagome felt a heat flush to her cheeks and burn her ears. "Then what the hell are doing touching me all the damn time?" She shot back.

Naruto's grip went cold on her instantaneously. He pulled back. It couldn't be deciphered in the dark but she knew Naruto was just as red as her. "Itachi does it," he growled back, his eyes glowing.

"Don't make assumptions—"

"I _smell_ him on you." Naruto's voice had turned guttural.

Kagome bit the inside of her cheek and crossed her arms in a tight knot around her ribs.

"Doesn't it bother you that the age difference between you and me is less than between Itachi and me? He's twenty years old! I'm fifteen, Kagome, you're twelve. In a few years, no one will notice us, but with you and Itachi… it's sick."

Kagome shot him a cold glance. "Uzumaki Naruto, you better stop it right there or I swear…"

"Swear what?" Naruto snapped. "And don't talk down to me like you're my mother."

"Oh, like you would know…" Kagome muttered. "Like _either of us_ would know, we're both orphans, remember?"

"Yeah, it explains why we're all so fucked up, so don't hang around Itachi anymore cause he has_ no_ excuse."

"_Itachi_ has problems too!"

Naruto snorted. "Whatever, he just says stuff like that so that he can fuck you."

Kagome blanched. "How dare you!"

Naruto looked away from her, his back hunched and gaze sullen. "I knew it…"

"Knew _what_?" She hissed back.

"You haven't defended or denied the fact that he's touched you or that he might want to sleep with you…"

Kagome punched his arm. "Why on earth would I plead my case to someone who wants to do the same thing?" Her voice was heavy and dark.

Naruto rubbed his arm. "Ouch…" Whether it was from her hit or her words, she didn't know. He looked back up to her, eyes wide and swimming. "Can you at least be honest with me about him? I mean, I'm always guessing with you two and you're both so secretive…"

Kagome tilted her head, and felt a tingle of some nice feeling. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to tell _someone _something_._ "He came by your—_our _apartment when you left," she started.

Naruto's eyes narrowed immediately but he kept his words behind his fangs_. "And…?"_

"And he nearly had a panic attack. He hyperventilated over the idea of having kids." There was a lightness in her voice, but there was a pain in her eyes.

Naruto didn't laugh.

A long moment passed and the thoughts swirled in Naruto's eyes. "With you?"

Kagome blinked but eventually nodded. "Shisui has been teasing us both, but still, Itachi took it a bit more seriously and made it very clear that he would never want to have children with…" She swallowed. Was this normal? A sudden wave of feeling hit her in the chest directly and hung heavy, where it stayed. "_…me_," she breathed, and that's when it hit her.

Naruto dragged a rough thumb to her cheeks and wiped away something.

_Why am I crying?_ She frantically pushed away Naruto and buried her face into her lap. Eyes shut tight, she dragged her face along her skirt and refused even to make the slightest sniffle.

"Kagome…" Naruto's hand was heavy on her back, running along the curve of her spine in a soothing motion.

"I'm fine…" was her muffled response. She breathed hard until all her air was gone and she was about to suffocate. She surfaced with eyes red-rimmed and puffy. "I just didn't know I would be sad about it…" All she had been thinking of, when Itachi had told her, was about how frantic he looked. She had only thought about calming him, setting aside his fears. What she hadn't realized that she had set aside some unknown dream.

"How could you?" She was too young to know what she wanted, let alone what she didn't.

Kagome leaned against him. "I said I didn't care…"

Naruto rested his head on top of her head. "Screw him," he muttered into her hair. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

"Yeah," Kagome looked up coyly. "Sasuke snores."

"I was talking about Itachi."

"Well, I spend more time with Sasuke and he's been more grabby than both of you combined."

"_What? _I'm gonna kill that Teme," Naruto swore, his whole body going rigid.

Kagome stilled as the presence that had been fast approaching finally arrived. She had felt Sasuke coming a mile away. "Speak of the devil…"

A dark figure slipped over the balustrade across the lawn and stood before them swathed in shadow. "Say that again, Dobe," Sasuke strode over to them, arms buried in his haori sleeves and the planes of his face dusted by the starlight. His eyes were indecipherably strained. "What's going on?" His voice resounded with a tight baritone.

"Nothing," Kagome said simply.

"Really?" Sasuke arched a brow. "Then explain to me why I had to tell three separate ANBU patrols not to apprehend the both of you."

Naruto's grip slacked on Kagome and she scooted away; the movement caught Sasuke's eye, but he said nothing.

"I almost killed Hyuuga, Teme," Naruto said, and there was smugness in his voice.

"A quick lapse in Kyuubi's influence, Sasuke," Kagome waved him off. She had just fixed it.

"Yeah, I'm calm now so go away because we all know you weren't invited."

The tendons went taut in Sasuke's jaw and neck. He didn't like to be denied or turned away.

Feeling a scuffle with Sasuke would undo any progress Naruto had made with the Kyuubi, Kagome nudged him up and standing.

"_What?"_ Naruto snapped, he didn't like her pushing him away.

"Just give us a second," Kagome said as she stood as well.

Naruto let out a growl before turning on his heel and stomping away from the both of them.

When he had left them both, he left the shoji screen ajar and the sounds of the kitchens trickled through while the inside light sent a lucent streak on them both. Kagome was a dark shadow and Sasuke was all too plain in sight before her.

Kagome tapped her foot on the wood, irritably. "Well?"

Sasuke grit his teeth, he wasn't going to indulge her in guessing games. He wasn't in the mood. "What is it _this time_?" His words were measured.

"Oh, I don't know, Sasuke. Why don't you tell me?" When the Uchiha remained stubbornly pensive, she flicked a wave of Wind chakra right to his toes. Chunks of earth and grass lurched up and peppered his sandals.

Sasuke brushed off the debris with a jerky kick. "I have no idea what you're talking about…" He proceeded to stuff his hands into his pockets.

"There's not a single thing you want to tell me? Maybe something vital?" Kagome pressed, but she honestly couldn't accept that Sasuke just forgot to mention the betrothal. He was not willingly this thickskulled.

Sasuke's eyes just became distant. "No."

Kagome growled, turned on her heel, and walked swiftly away from him.

Sasuke was in front of her in the next moment. Then there they stood, next to a nervous sous-chef who was too polite to usher the two ANBU out and away from his delicate crystalline sugar sculptures.

"Sasuke. _Move."_

"What would you have me do, Kagome?"

She crossed her arms. "Tell me the truth, for one."

"I never lied—"

"You didn't tell me we might be betrothed!" Kagome yelled, and the clamor in the kitchen stilled for a dangerous moment. Kagome whipped around to the chefs. _"Stop staring!"_ And they quickly resumed whatever each was doing.

"It is hardly set in stone, Kagome," Sasuke droned. She was overreacting. "Nara will never agree."

"And if they do?"

Sasuke shrugged in a heavy motion.

"Oh my god…" Kagome breathed. "You don't care, _do you?"_

"Not particularly," Sasuke flicked his eyes to a flaming dish wafting heat a bit too close to his hair. "How did you find out?"

"Itachi, who else?" Kagome snapped. "You wanted us to kiss and makeup, remember?"

Sasuke just remained silent at that. Yes, he had initially wanted them to patch things up, but they did it so easily. Was it truly that easy to forgive another? "Are you still living with the dobe?"

Kagome nodded. _"Why?"_

Sasuke shrugged. "For how long?"

"As long as I want, we're not married _yet,"_ Kagome said and began to brush past Sasuke. "Is that all, _honey_?"

Sasuke caught her by the shoulder. "There's a funeral tomorrow."

_So much for weddings…_ Kagome's eyes reflected back his stone cold expression. "For who?"

"Itachi's teammates, he will be required to say something… a eulogy of sorts, it would be…_nice—_" The last word slid over his teeth like nails over stone. "…if you were there." Sasuke shuffled on his feet. "For him."

Kagome's sharp exterior melted from her face, her sharp cheekbones seeped back in, beneath the soft baby fat and milky white skin. Her eyes took on a thoughtful light rather than their typical icy sheen. "Alright…" she barely got out, because Itachi was still indulging her emotions despite the fact he had to face the families of those who had died. "Will you be there as well?"

Sasuke paused, his lips parted in an automatic response, because who wanted to see the great Uchiha Itachi at a low point? "Shisui will," he finally said. His father had to work, or so he said, but he was sure it would be months before either his brother or his father started speaking again and his mother... her heart couldn't bear it.

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "He'd want you to be there, Sasuke."

Sasuke glared down at the tiled floors.

"We'll leave our morning session early with Anko-san."

"Anko is in ANBU?" Sasuke said, looking up to Kagome slipping past him.

"Anko is in everything, and no, before you ask, we're not doing anymore Genjutsu training… not until… you grow a bit more."

Sasuke still didn't see the humor in him having an immature Kekkei Genkai.

"Now, let me grab Naruto so we can ditch Hyuuga."

…

"Palms _**out!**_"

Mitarashi stalked in front of the lines of ANBU. Her boots resonated on concrete as they stood on top of the Hokage tower. Early morning drills had them all panting, and now Anko had them lined for what seemed like an execution.

Ninth column, fourth row, a youth with fair hair budding from under his deer mask wavered under Anko's gaze for but a moment; her pale eyes flicked down to his splayed hands. A clap of skin and she wrenched the young man's right palm to his eyes. "If you **don't** have the experience then don't waste my fucking time!" Her words echoed unseen in the morning mist. They wouldn't be training so openly if it had been clearer. Anko dropped the boy's hand in disgust and sighed heatedly. "Go."

The young ANBU didn't move, but shuffled on his feet, unsure.

"I said _**go!**_"

The youth flickered out of sight.

Anko pushed her way through the lines and to the front. "As I was saying, if you've never touched a sword in your life, I _can_ tell the difference and this isn't a class for beginners. For Kami sake, you're all in fucking ANBU, don't come to a master swordsmanship class if you're not a master swordsman!"

Sasuke swallowed hard from behind his mask.

Anko's eyes were on him in the next second but they slid to his small Captain on his right. "Yamaneko, where the fuck is your katana?"

Kagome didn't flinch, nor did she respond, she simply stood sporting her small short sword defiantly on her back.

Anko marched right up to her, higher ranks were in the front but Kagome had secured a spot for him as well, alongside her. Which meant Anko didn't have to march very far and she was looming over the prodigy in the next moment. "Well, Higurashi?"

Kagome's movements were swift, only her arm moved as it slid over her shoulder, gripped the sheath of her wakizashi and sung the blade through the air with a whine of metal. It twirled about her fingertips in a blurred helix before settling in her grip. A hiss of Wind chakra went scintillating across the blade and extendedthe short sword into a katana. "I don't need one anymore."

Anko smirked, tousled the young prodigy's bangs and let out a hearty laugh. "Heh, cool trick, kid, but last time I saw you fight, I distinctly remember two swords. Dual wielding is not common these days and double the fun to just give up, am I right?"

Kagome shrugged as she sheathed her weapon. "It's not practical when performing Genjutsu on stealth missions."

"Good thing you're not doing those anymore then, right? Stuck babysitting nowadays and doing grunt work." Anko leaned in, her eyes gleaming. "So toss the short sword and let's get serious, okay? Because playtime is over and you'll need a lot more than just two swords for this session."

Kagome unhooked her weapon reluctantly and let it clatter to the ground. "I don't need it, give me whatever you have."

"Hm," Anko twirled on her heel and approached the weapons rack. "Well, a katana would be no fun so let's do something you'd find a little harder…" A clink of metal and soon Anko was unhooking a six foot halberd.

Sasuke stiffened, wishing Hyuuga was here and not in Taijutsu training, to help Kagome get out of this one. _Fuck,_ that thing was at least twice her size.

Gripping it midway on its long slender shaft, Anko gave a few testing swings. The heavy blade gave solid _whooshes _in response until it was outstretched to the little girl who had to wield the thing, aside from figuring how to lift it up.

Kagome made a reach for the weapon.

"Ah," Anko stopped her. "Let me see your hands."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, she'd wielded plenty of weapons before; why was Anko doubting her experience? "Why?"

"Just do it."

Kagome did as she was instructed, peeling off her fingerless gloves and holding out her palms.

Anko raised a brow. "Yeah, I knew it. Your hands are going to bleed like a bitch."

Without warning the massive halberd was tossed at Kagome. It careened through the air and its blade hit the concrete with a grating hiss. Kagome winced at the impact but was able to steady it.

"Pick it up, _neko_."

But it was firmly lodged into the concrete and Kagome's little body didn't have the height or weight to move it.

A few murmurs broke out, along with a chuckle from behind him.

Anko simply watched, eyes expectant, arms crossed. "I can wait." The blanket of clouds was their curtain, but the sun was starting to peek through. They would have to move soon.

When the blade remained stuck, Kagome let out a heated breath before twirling around and walking swiftly away.

Every set of eyes followed her, wondering if she would be suspended for leaving without being dismissed, but Anko remained quiet, calm even.

It was when Kagome was at the rim of the roof did she crouch, turn once more in the direction of the stuck halberd and _launch_. In a quick blur of black, she ran across the roof and down the aisle of ANBU to the weapon. Kagome's movements could only be registered when she leapt into the air, curled over the hilt of the blade and wrapped her hands around it. Her momentum and grip, straightened her frame out midair and jostled the blade free until it swung over and crashed once more into the concrete.

This time, however, it didn't stick. There was a small crater and a cloudlet of dust hanging in the air.

Kagome let out a breath, did a swift side step until the halberd stood on its tip and fell behind Kagome horizontally floating in the air, with just one hand on the mid.

"Good job, kid. Now let's get moving before the Hokage catches us banging up her tower again," Anko did a circling motion over her head. "All on two. Draw your weapons!"

All of them did, even Sasuke as he tried to decipher what the first command meant.

But from the way Anko was sidling alongside Kagome and pulling out a katana of her own, with eyes hungry for the fight, Sasuke knew…

_All on two…_

Anko and Kagome disappeared into the mist.

The surrounding ANBU chased after them like a pack of wolves.

…

At first they moved sinuously, like a pack of roving animals drawn by the hot scent that promised prey. Then in a singular movement, they split in unsaid groupings and teams. Sasuke fell in ranks with the ones who were backtracking and attempting an ambush.

The trees were thick, deep greens from the dim indigo haze that was early morning. The ground was slick, dew dripped, and it was difficult to get a footing. They took to the trees instead.

There was a cackle from the clearing below and his unit stilled. The pseudo-Captain tapped his wrist then held up three fingers, pointing to him and then to two others. Silently they ensconced the dewy gully that Anko was fighting in. She was holding off four of them easily enough, laughing at every misstep each ANBU took and exploiting every fumble with a quick slice. The grass was slippery and one ANBU gave enough leeway that so that Anko was able to gouge his shoulder and pin him against a boulder, crushing his collarbone.

When they descended on her, Anko flipped and ran into the trees with a lung full of fire directed right at them.

Sasuke was about to retaliate with the same, when the ANBU who had been stabbed gripped his shoulder and shook his head. "Only swords for us." His frog mask glistened like frosted jade but his hazel eyes wilted at the pain.

Which made sense, considering they outnumbered Kagome and Anko about sixty to one and this was a swordsmanship class.

They ran on until Anko had somehow whittled them down to just him, _alone._

Anko was on the offensive. She was aggressive almost to fanatical and wouldn't cease her strikes long enough for him to even think about _thinking_. Their blades connected time and time again and soon the metal sparked and groaned and hissed under the force.

Anko pivoted her wrist and the arc of her katana caught his straight sword.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his Sharingan flared despite the parameters for the exercise and his world blared to life. Immediately he saw the solution. Sasuke maneuvered a sudden back step and twist of the wrist so that Anko lost her footing on the tree bough for but a moment. That was all he needed.

Sasuke did an immaculate slash across Anko's airspace to demonstrate he could have decapitated her if he took one step forward.

Anko smirked, held up a hand in pause and sheathed her blade. "Well done, Uchiha. I would have shattered that pretty sword of yours if you hadn't moved."

"You would have lost your head."

"Not until I released my snakes on you. You would be dead before you hit the ground if I let them bite you."

"Try it," he warned, and his blade and Sharingan were ready.

Anko waved him off. "Don't get so caught up in the battle. You need to control your emotions better, Uchiha." Anko did a quick motion for him to follow. He had won their bout, reward came with being on her team now.

Sasuke's eyes caught the slightest of trembles up in the canopy. "Anko…"

"I see them, Hebi," she breathed, with hot puffs hanging the air. Anko crouched. "They'll attack you now. You attack _back_."

They descended on him and Anko in the next breath.

Sasuke fumbled with an ANBU a good half foot shorter than him, but he was far stockier and could wield a slim naginata like an extension of his arm. It made up for his height to say the least, but Sasuke was able to corner him, until the ANBU slipped into the shadows before he could truly disarm him.

Anko held off a wiry kunoichi with a full daisho set strapped to her back. Anko disarmed the girl one by one until the kunoichi's tanto was hilted into the earth below them and there were nothing but empty sheaths clattering on her back. Anko did a slashing motion across her throat and the bear masked kunoichi flickered out of sight.

Sasuke barely caught wind of the blade descending on him before it screeched across his mask. He met it with his chokuto, and his eyes narrowed murderously when he recognized the frog masked ANBU from before.

He remembered how his shoulder was wounded and exactly where, as well. With wicked strike, he stuck his blade through the soft meaty wound with a _twist._ Blood peppered porcelain and Sasuke drove deeper with grunted thrusts until the tip of his blade poke through.

The ANBU grunted and his eyes lost focus for a moment.

Sasuke didn't know what hit him until he felt his eye sockets _bubble_.

It came fast, but he could see his reflection perfectly in those mottled umber eyes. His mask was peeled away, his eyes dilated, rimmed red and with tomoe, a still active Sharingan. His pupils swelled to encompass his scarlet irises and his eyes became black pits.

Sasuke barely choked out '_no chakra'_ before his Sharingan bleached to a pale white rim and _sizzled._

With a sickening pop, everything went black and his face became drenched in something warm and streaming from his face.

Sasuke dropped his sword, his hands trembling as he groped the planes of his face, then to his eyes. His eyelids gaping wide as he probed his eye sockets—

Only to find it an empty cavern in his skull.

Sasuke started screaming when he felt his skin dripping off.

…

Kagome was twirling about the shaft of her halberd, kicking some kunoichi's mask back into skull when she heard it.

Sasuke's screaming.

She knew it too well, because during his examination she had cast a horridly long Genjutsu on him to evoke it. It was grated and tore up his throat as if surged forth.

Kagome took the halberd with her, knowing she wouldn't make it without the weapon. She streamlined through the trees, using the halberd as a pole to vault and soar over the clusters of ANBU below her. A quartet of shuriken sung for her throat—

Kagome did a backlash of Wind chakra that left a wretched gash on the front of an ANBU's chest. Kagome paused, whipped around and struck an ANBU slipping behind her with the pummel of her weapon.

"_Back off,"_ she hissed, and she sent it home when she flickered out of sight in a whirlwind.

Nobody would stand in her way.

…

Anko was screaming right back at him. "Damn it, Uchiha! _Kai!_ You have to say _kai!_"

A hushed breeze flattened the foliage and made the old oaks moan. Anko was encircled by a good twenty or so ANBU when Kagome flickered into sight.

Kagome tore off her mask, tossed it and dropped the halberd like it was worthless. "Who did it?" She growled and everyone heard her despite Sasuke clawing his eyes out.

Anko ceased her shaking and was regretting the fact that she had gagged Sasuke in an attempt for him shut up. "He's not dispelling it and every moment he's in the illusion it gets worse."

"I don't give a fuck, Anko, about what he's _not_ doing." She was yelling and every ANBU parted ways so that she could get through to Sasuke and Anko. Her heart was pounding. Every second Sasuke was in there was another moment in agony. Kagome sighed. "I said _**who did it**_?"

Murmurs rippled through the cluster of ANBU.

"Fine," Kagome said simply, and in the next moment she formed a hand seal—

_I'll show you Genjutsu. _

"I did it."

Kagome's eyes flicked to a lithe frog-masked nin. He stepped forward, slipped off his mask and revealed a weathered young face with hazel eyes. "Name?" She bit out, fingers twitching and still humming with chakra.

"Yuuhi—_Akiyama _Yuuhi. Scout of squad nine, Dispatch/Combat Unit." He sent a nervous glance to Sasuke, who was bucking wildly against Anko's grip.

"Who's your commander?"

"Commander Saito Yuudai, his codename—"

"No, I mean before _that—!" _She kicked his feet out from under him in a blur.

"You mean Yuugao_-taichou_?" He stammered when Kagome's boot collided with his collarbone and pinned him to the mud.

"No…" she sneered. "Before _that."_

The ANBU swallowed thickly. _"—Kage-taichou?"_

Kagome stepped off of him and sighed as her eyes lolled back and she felt a splitting headache forming.

'Now he will target you,' she had told Sasuke back in Kawa where he had been an impudent little brat to one of the foremost Captains in ANBU and had gotten himself nearly suspended.

Now she was regretting how right she truly was.

"Well, Yuuhi-san, can you tell me why you haven't dispelled the illusion on my teammate?" Kagome stepped silently around the ANBU, encircling him.

"Because, I…I can't, Higurashi-taichou. I was never able to control the Genjutsu well enough." His resolve was strong.

"Ah, so you not only used chakra in an exercise that forbids the offensive to do so, but you also unleashed a technique that you never truly grasped?"

"Hai," he nodded seriously.

"I hope you're a quick learner, Yuuhi-san," Kagome sidestepped to give the ANBU a clear path to Sasuke, whose muffled screams had turned to scratchy gurgles. "You have ten seconds."

Yuuhi stepped forward. His hair was damp and beads of sweat formed on his brow when he placed hesitant fingers on Sasuke's temples.

Kagome knew this type of Genjutsu, it was the higher level of A-rank in which no one could dispel it save for the illusionist himself, not even a whap to the head would bring Sasuke to. )Which Kagome had no doubt Anko had tried before the gagging.)

The problem was, with such hardy and virulent illusions, that very few ever could control them.

_Kage must be real fucking bored to steep this low…_

This was going to turn into a mess when Itachi found out.

Kagome glanced down to her hands, they were dripping. _Anko was right, _she thought absently at the tattered flesh. Her skin was too soft nowadays.

Sasuke suddenly stilled, but his eyelids were vibrating frantically. He was still in the remaining aftershocks of the illusion.

"That is the… best I can do… at the moment," Yuuhi panted as he crouched beside Sasuke and a very disappointed Anko.

Kagome was standing next his shoulders. "Not good enough," she murmured.

Her hand struck out against the boy's skull. Her fingers laced over Yuuhi's bulging eyes and her palm remained fiercely clamped over his lips.

Akiyama Yuuhi screamed until he was coughing up blood.

It was when he finally collapsed in pool of darkish vomit did Sasuke come to.

Kagome removed her hand and stepped over the unconscious ANBU. The silence was stifling. She felt the weight of hundred eyes on her back.

Anko stood gravely, releasing the dazed Uchiha as she appraised Yuuhi's contorted and horrified face. It was now marked with a perfect scarlet handprint.

"Exercise is over, everyone," Anko called. "We have a funeral to go to."

Kagome just stood, heaving in fury, with blood on her hands.

"_Move out!"_

…

Services began at dawn.

The memorial statue in training ground three held a bushel of fresh flowers and well over three hundred people.

Itachi stood among the morning mists as he dropped four lilies, each for the respective dead, upon the four abandoned porcelain masks and the glossed granite monument that they lay upon.

Ashes would be scattered, masks dispersed back into the ranks and their names would be engraved into the stone that held thousands of others that had died for this village.

It was all so pointless.

An early morning drizzle started and vibrant umbrellas bloomed among the starkly dressed crowd. Itachi opened his fluidly, with the Uchiwa fan emblazoned on the vermillion rim.

He took his place with other members of ANBU. His squadron was here; he couldn't find all of them without their masks, but certain mannerisms and body posture gave them away.

He never knew some of them had children.

Shisui was a few yards off, pulling his haori over his head in a pseudo hood as he laughed with a few ANBUabout something. A few of his clansmen were here, dispersed among the troves of people, observing him and Shisui for a number of reasons.

No one spoke to him.

He was supposed to give the eulogy after Tsunade said a few words, along with the retired Sandaime gracing them with his presence.

The Third Hokage was aging too fast for any of their tastes.

Itachi still held out hope that a shinobi could die of old age.

Services commenced despite the rain, and Shisui disappeared into a cluster of Chuunin to stand with. Itachi waited, listening to the drone of the Sandaime's wizened words as he recited a verse from the Shinobi code as well as the rain as it pelted the grass beneath his sandals and splattered the ends of his hakamas.

Now, it was his turn, to sum up four immeasurable lives that were thrown away for _him._

He always started with how they died first. Whether it was appropriate or not, it gave everyone some closure despite the secrecy of it all.

In this, he announced each of their names and monikers. Some ANBU would be hearing their comrade's name for the first time and some family members would learn of their loved one's codename for the first time as well. It was liberating, at least.

_Fukurou_, the owl.

Born as Aburame Shizuko, died after eight hours of poisoning, which resulted in her Kekkei Genkai eating her alive in a desperate attempt to save itself.

_Uma,_ the horse.

Born as Matsuhita Hideki, took seventy three shuriken in the back for Itachi. They were coated in acid and cooked his blood until the noble Matsuhita was screaming for death.

Sai beheaded him for mercy's sake.

_Hitokage_, the salamander.

Born as Yamaguchi Sho, lost his right arm in retrieval of an injured comrade and killed nine trackers before he was caught. He was missing, presumed dead for nine hours until they discovered his skin pinned to a tree prior to the second assault. It was a sick sort of warning.

Yamaguchi Sho saved _Koumori_, the bat.

Born as Yamaguchi Shin, he was Sho's younger brother and had lost all consciousness when he saw his elder brother's deflated expression and flesh pinned against that horrid tree like a prized rabbit's pelt. The barbarism is what killed him eventually, for he lost the will to live in the midst of surgery.

"—I have a younger brother, as well. He joined the ranks of ANBU last month. I could not imagine…" He was losing his voice in a distant murmur that no one could hear. Itachi looked up from his calloused hands and spoke once again. "There are no words that are appropriate to make up for your loved one's lives. Their deaths were pointless. They no more deserved their fates as I deserved them as teammates…I…" His eyes wandered over the pale faces, some horrified or in awe. The thin strip of horizon was a deep green with damp pasture and distant pines… A dark cluster crested over the hill, silent in the rain. "I… I have nothing more to say…" and he stepped down and rejoined the crowd.

Tsunade sent him a cold glance and people gravitated away from him. Soon the Godaime was directing people to share memories, to remember the lost, and Itachi was standing alone.

His eyes wandered to the approaching group, they numbered just below a hundred and they were _all_ ANBU. They walked past him as well, joined their comrades, friends, family members… They were like a dark wave rushing above him and he was waiting at the bottom of the ocean to breathe…

Then something small laced itself around his fingers, chilled by early autumn and eager for his warm scarred hands as it pulled him to the surface...

"I'm here," Kagome's voice was small and breathy but her weight was heavy against his ribs.

Itachi barely looked down to her closed eyes, realizing that her hands were cold and wet. "You're bleeding," He stated, and his eyes flicked up to Sasuke standing before them both. His brother's mask was marked in the exact shade of color as his.

Sasuke was flanked by the Hyuuga, who didn't remove his mask like his other two teammates but simply fell into the background to observe.

Itachi couldn't shake the disturbed look in his brother's eyes, like a deer who had been pinned down by a pack wolves.

Itachi removed his hands tenderly from Kagome's palms. They were sticky. "What happened?" Kagome was out of breath, his brother was unnaturally quiet, and the Hyuuga looked as if he was commanded not to speak of it.

"Training got out of hand, that's all," Kagome stressed, and sleeved her hands.

But the sight of tattered flesh that looked as if it had been pulled too hard sent him reeling. He kneeled and his hakama was immediately soaked at the knees. The umbrella rolled onto the earth and he coerced her through soft circles rubbing into her stiff wrists.

"Skin's too soft, Anko told me it would bleed but I didn't listen…" She muttered. "Then Sasuke was separated from me and I was stupid enough to let him out of my sight… I thought training would be safe enough…but Kage found him."

"Kage…?" Itachi spoke and sent a frantic glance over her shoulders to his dazed little brother.

"He's targeting him for something completely inane," Kagome was seething. "He got to Sasuke through an ex-subordinate. I couldn't stop the Genjutsu in time…"

Itachi simply nodded, stood, and Kagome stepped out the way to allow him to Sasuke.

"Otouto—"

"I'm fine," He muttered with eyes averted down into the mud. He was still repressing the feeling of having his eyes cooked out of his bare skull and his blood being evaporated… but it would pass. He'd been through enough pains in his life to stem the post trauma anxiety.

Itachi just stared at him, face too perfect to betray anything except the slightest concern…

What made Sasuke kick the dirt and grit his teeth was the fact that he couldn't suppress the urge to run into his Aniki's arms and wait for him to say it was okay.

Kagome watched, Neji drifted away, and the crowd was slowly congregating even closer to the memorial stone. The Uchiha brothers remained still as statues staring each other down, unable to cope with their own emotional distresses or comfort the others.

She didn't want to interfere, but they were practically screaming at her to do just that.

So, Kagome walked promptly behind Sasuke who was still a bit unsteady on his feet and _pushed—_

"Just hug each other already!"

—him right into Itachi, who caught him with open arms.

They stumbled and Sasuke hung awkwardly in Itachi's stiff embrace for a long moment…

Kagome groaned. "Oh for Kami's sake—!"

And she wrapped her arms as far as she could around them both and _squeezed._

Kagome felt their tension melt, their spines bow and feet shuffle. She placed a cheek solidly on Sasuke's ribs, where his heart thundered and her nose buried into Itachi's haori.

With both arms hooked securely around their waists, she smiled. "Better?"

Simultaneously—

"Hn."

They agreed.

…

The funeral crowd dispersed quietly, everyone going to their own respective receptions. Itachi spoke a few words to each of the parents, spouses, children…

But not without Kagome standing solidly by his side, her hands wrapped deftly in gauze and placed firmly in his. Sasuke stood diligently behind them both with the occasional nod of approval at his brother's condolences.

It was a nice thing to have, especially when someone glorified his eulogy for its humility or condemned its callousness…

Itachi didn't know which sickened him more.

Either way, they all left hastily enough, more so due to the bitter weather than the grievous place and then just the three stood there for awhile.

Kagome nestled herself on the kneeling stone and placed a ring of rain-trampled flowers at the base while Sasuke leaned heavily on it, eyes looking down on her.

Itachi watched them, as Kagome fiddled the bruised petals with hands bound up almost like mittens, Sasuke absently commented on how ugly her flower arrangements were.

Kagome promptly stuck out her tongue and Sasuke smirked, trying to feign indignation. Their bickering ceased when Kagome took to name hunting on the memorial stone.

"There are a lot of Uchiha on here…" She traced a finger over the dozens of columns all starting with the same kanji. Raindrops mirrored the world back at her through warped reflections on the damp stone and the clean cut engravings. "_Uchiha Shisui?"_ Kagome looked up to Itachi, eyes muddled with confusion.

But Sasuke answered. "Shisui's father. He was named after him."

"He died, along with Shisui's mother, during the Kyuubi attack."

Kagome felt a pit knot in her stomach at how many times Shisui had to face Naruto knowing it was what was inside of him that killed both of his parents…

"He was six," Kagome breathed. "That's horrible…"

"As horrible as you having your family slaughtered as a toddler?" Sasuke snapped.

Kagome's eyes were already pinning him down with a watery and hurt expression. They reflected the clouds above them, not storm clouds, just pale skies that were always weeping…

"Otouto," Itachi clipped.

"What?" Sasuke rumbled, eyes dark. "It's ridiculous that she has sympathy for others who cannot even begin to imagine her own loss."

"Hypocrisy will be in the words who judge sympathy as such, otouto."

Sasuke's eyes flattened to cool hard obsidian as he shoved off the memorial and looked down on Kagome. "Doesn't it bother you?" He demanded. "That the killer of your family is still… _alive?"_

Kagome just remained quiet, knees hugged to her chest and eyes watching her boots drink up the mud. "What would you do, Sasuke?" Her voice was muffled.

"I would…" He looked hesitantly to Itachi. "I would seek revenge _at all costs_."

"Revenge would only bring more loss and pain and suffering…" Kagome whispered. "I have no hate for my family's killer, or love for those who are dead…"

Sasuke ran a frustrated hand over his damp spikes. _"Why?"_ He breathed.

"Because…" She looked up. "I wouldn't have you…" She then glanced at Itachi before looking back to a looming Sasuke. "_Either of you._ In some ways I'm thankful, Sasuke… It might seem sick to you and I might feel guilt for it… but I wouldn't change a thing. I care for you both and it kills me more to see two brothers so distant than to have no family to claim…" She had lived a life without a family, it was all she knew. _They_ were all she knew. "You are all my family now."

Sasuke face lost its tautness and his gaze cooled. _"Hn."_

Itachi nodded, soon stiffening at a sudden presence on the wind.

Kagome felt it as well, and she stood alert to the rapid approach from the surrounding forest.

Sasuke only knew when he saw a trivet of ANBU step from the forest shadows and into the murmurs of soft rain. "What's going on?"

Kagome caught the glimpse of a distinct hand signal. "They want me to come with them."

Sasuke's footsteps were audible as he sidled himself next to Kagome. Her gaze remained strained and her wet hair was matted to her temples and soft jaw line. Droplets peppered her eyelashes and slipped off like tears. She turned to him when she could feel him close enough that she felt heat radiating off of him like frenetic and high-strung aura.

"No, Sasuke…" Kagome grabbed his wrist and pressed firmly into his thigh. "Things work differently in ANBU, trust me. Stay here…with your brother." She leaned her forehead against his chest, his armor was soaked. "He needs you more than I do," she whispered. "Please?"

Sasuke nodded reluctantly as he watched Kagome slip across the glade and exchange a few subtle words and hand movements with the ANBU. The squad leader nodded and in the next breath they were gone.

"Where did they go?" Sasuke asked the wind and rainfall, eyes riveted to the empty space where they had just stood. The wind soughed and brought a chilled bite to his cheeks.

"To the Hokage," Itachi said quietly. "Kagome is going for memory extraction."

The tendons in Sasuke's neck went taut in high-strung chords. "And how do you know this, _aniki_?"

"I petitioned for it, _otouto._"

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Summary:** Sasuke confesses! Kagome's first kiss is anything but voluntary! And it isn't Sasuke who has her as his victim but another! Who is responsible for such a heinous act and who dares to do so in front of Sasuke? (Who watches by the way, because he's a hentai, you're a hentai, I'm a hentai, we're all hentais) The turning point of the saga is next chapter and from there, it just all goes downhill…

**The rating for this fiction will be moved up to _**Mature**_ by Chapter 24. This is final and warnings for mature content will be issued accordingly.**

Update Schedule

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **February 16**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **March 16**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **April 13 **Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **May 11**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	23. Lorelei, Filled With a Magic So Strong

**Author's Note: **okay this is the revised version!

**

* * *

**

**~Chapter Twenty Three~**

Lorelei, Filled With a Magic So Strong

* * *

_a plum falls into the river_

_I sing goodbye, watch temptation drift downstream_

_then the waters sing back, ask for a kiss_

_I plunge in to take a bite_

_

* * *

_

"You attacked a fellow ANBU."

"_Attacked _is a hardly the term I would use…"

"You used a top tier A-rank Genjutsu, Kagome—"

"Not before he used the _exact same_ level on Sasuke, who has no tolerance for those things at all!"

"It doesn't matter." Tsunade took to pacing while Kagome remained sitting petulantly in the center of the Hokage's office. "You went on unprovoked—"

"_Unprovoked?"_ Kagome scoffed. "He and who knows who else singled out Sasuke and attacked him at the core of his very weakness in a swordsmanship class! And only when I _wasn't_ with him."

"It doesn't matter. They are _subordinates_, Kagome." Tsunade was grimacing before a stack of papers and making a scratching sound in the back of her throat. "You are a _Captain._ The standards you are held to are completely different."

"I could have slit his throat and called him a treasonous pig and no one would have questioned me…"

"Back in the days when you were a respected Captain of rank, _yes_— nowadays when you are getting sloppy with even the most basic of training exercises and missions, not so much."

"I'm doing the best I can," Kagome muttered.

"Your best doesn't include sticking your neck out for Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade snapped. "No one learns when they have someone holding them back. Let him fall and then, only then, will Uchiha be able to walk on his own."

"But Kage—"

"Is a situation that you should have reported as soon as it happened!" The Godaime buried her hands in the sleeves of her robes and bowed her head. She sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done…"

"But—"

"One more word and I'm going to stop overlooking the lack of reports I've been getting from you and how you broke formation in the last leg of your mission."

"How did you…" Kagome trailed.

"When you're within_ my_ borders there isn't a thing I don't know about." Tsunade raised a brow and there was a particular quirk to her pink lips.

Kagome's face flushed at the realization. "Oh my god…" Even the Hokage had heard about the…_hug._ And kissing? Was Shisui right? No, she just whispered and… _"Oh god—" _The little prodigy buried her face promptly into her palms.

"It's fine, Kagome… but we must discuss a few things concerning your relationship with Uchiha Itachi." Tsunade ensconced around her desk with a light simper. The windows rimmed and created a dim silhouette of a rather blustery day. The sky was pale and blotched a crisp grey in the endless curtain of clouds. "Before we meet with Ibiki, I need to know where you're living."

Of course the Hokage would know she was evicted. "With Naruto."

Tsunade raised a pale blonde brow. "Really?"

"Really. What's wrong with that?" Wasn't Naruto a more preferred choice than shacking up with Itachi or kami knows who else?

"Well, for one I wasn't aware, and two, you and he are supposed to be separated as much as possible."

"What? _Why?"_ Kagome shot up. "I know he's aggressive, but I can…" _Heal him, fix him, control him…_ None of them sounded right and they were lead weight on her tongue.

Tsunade waved it off. They were off topic. "This is a discussion we will have with Ibiki and the others. The subject of the matter is Itachi and the implications of what you are two are doing…"

"We're not—"

"I don't give a damn if you're about to elope with him, you need to understand what you're getting into… legally. You are all aware of gossip and politics but there are some serious repercussions that can and will take place if certain boundaries are broken."

"Like what?" Kagome was drawn taut, tendons strung tight and muscles knotted stiff.

"For one, you're not a legal adult, even by shinobi standards. You have to be fifteen to even be alone with Itachi off duty and if anything, and I mean _anything _physical transgresses between you two _again_ then Itachi's rank will be put up for reassessment and a restraining order will take place. If any sexual abuse such as fondling or acts of frottage, oral or intercourse—"

"_Oh my god, oh my god…"_ Kagome's voice was a sharp squeak and her head was between her knees. "Please! Just stop talking—"

Tsunade sifted through a few papers. "If anything happens, then Itachi won't be allowed within five hundred feet of a minor _ever_ _again._ Do you understand, Kagome?"

"It-it was just a _hug—!"_

"Hugs escalate, Kagome, and no matter how special you may think your relationship is, it still doesn't change the fact that it's wrong. You are a child. Itachi is a grown man and he knows _exactly_ where he treads dangerously on, and if he holds the same feelings for you then he should have no problems with _waiting._"

…

As per usual, she was in an interrogation room. One flickering light hung above the single metal chair and Kagome leaned back casting a flat look to the one-sided mirror. Despite being soundproof she could still detect the slight tremors in the glass and the shadows sliding in the door's silhouette.

They were arguing, and she hoped the Godaime had more sense than to tell Shikaku that they were about to pick her brain to a bloody pulp until she remembered…_anything, something, everything—_

Kagome waited.

She could be patient - ANBU had trained her to be - but she wasn't renowned for it. They gave her a few puzzles, mind games and brain teasers. Spatial-visual was her strong suit and she could bring up a two dimensional image from paper to fold, spin and bounce at the wall to see what side it landed on.

Said puzzles were now reduced to bits of paper, sprinkling the tiles. Her battered origami were flying around the room with hums of Wind chakra. The door finally opened when her quartet of paper cranes had taken an aerial assault on her starfish army.

"Having fun?" Ibiki grunted with his burly body creaking on the doorframe.

Kagome released her_ Inu_ hand seal and the origami showered down by her boots. "Always am."

Ibiki shook his head and flipped a few forms over a clipboard. "Yamanaka Inoichi will be doing the procedure and you have been given a direct order from the Hokage to be fully cooperative—meaning no Genjutsu or countermeasures."

Kagome nodded and began to toe a crumpled frog. "Anything else?"

Ibiki sent a dry look to the dozens of fauna crowding her chair. "You folded your octopus wrong. The center fold goes in, not out."

"Ah, thanks…" Kagome kicked the air and three six-legged octopi went flying. "_Just_ Inoichi-san?"

"Your limbs will be placed within restraints and chakra seals will be placed on your hands. Just in case we stumble on a rather violent flashback and you decide to cut us to bits." The last part seemed to amuse him.

"Seems a little lax, especially for you, Ibiki-san," Kagome mused as she began folding her newest creation.

"Yes, well, your fath—"

"Shikaku," Kagome swiftly corrected.

"_Shikaku_ made Inoichi swear to watch over you and that no drastic measures were taken."

Kagome bit her lip. She should have suspected that was what the yelling was about. Very few things created a rift between the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio and being your daughter's interrogator was one of them.

"The Hokage was foolish to let this information slip," Kagome clipped, creasing the final fold of her dragonfly.

"It was Inoichi. Fool couldn't come here without letting Shikaku know."

"Hn," Kagome grunted, eyes riveted to her hand movements. "Can I request someone?"

"Request?"

Kagome nodded. "To be here and observe the procedure."

"Uzumaki Naruto is not to be within—"

"No, not Naruto," Kagome quickly unraveled her paper insect and began once more. "Or any Uchiha for that matter."

Ibiki's scarred brow furrowed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Kagome simply smiled. "Actually, can you make that _two_?"

…

Itachi had left him without a word.

Once Kagome was taken and the weather had become even more inclement.

His brother simply walked into the forest and disappeared into the dark woodlands as if they were city streets. Sasuke watched his brother fade into a shadow and then nothing at all. The urge to follow was strong and a thousand unsaid words remained heavy on his tongue.

_You haven't come home in days…_

Sasuke wanted to say, but a bitter taste flooded his mouth and he bit his cheek until he tasted blood as a substitute.

He hated this.

And so, he left just as swiftly and ran along rooftops until he found himself standing under a holey awning from an abandoned fruit stand and looking up to an decrepit apartment building. He slipped through a sideway and came to a rickety stairway.

Nine stories later Sasuke was knocking on Kakashi's apartment door.

Surprisingly, Sakura opened it, with her bright eyes harkening some color to the grey day.

"Sasuke-kun?" She balanced a rather impressive textbook on her hip with a thick, sun-yellowed scroll splayed over the cover. "What's wrong?" Her voice dropped.

"I need to talk to Kakashi," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura stepped away and let him in.

It was a typical studio, with a futon crammed in a corner, a cluster of spindly plants sipping the rain in the windowsill and a tiny kitchenette brewing whatever Sakura was concocting.

"Kakashi-sensei is teaching me the basics of toxicology."

Then of course was his sensei, perched over the coffee table that was littered with texts and a neat stack of every _Icha Icha_ paradise copy tucked under. "Ohayo, Sasuke," he greeted. "You're welcome to join us. We're currently running low on test subjects." He shot his protégée one of his eye-crinkling smiles.

Sakura simply stood while Sakura hummed. "Oh, we have antidotes, Sasuke-kun, so don't look so—_Sasuke-kun?" _She quickly whirled on her heel and waved a palm before his eyes. "What's the matter?"

Kakashi straightened and sat cross-legged on the floor while he eyed his rather dazed looking student. "Something happened," he said flatly.

Sakura quirked a brow and before Sasuke could evade her, she had her hand plastered to his skull and glowing with the same light that burned in her eyes. "I detect energy markers, sensei… through his nervous system?" She rescinded her tentative touch. "Who cast a Genjutsu that strong on you, Sasuke-kun?"

A silence hung in the air.

"It wasn't Kagome," Sasuke bit out, and his eyes were fierce from the mere insinuation. "It was… an ANBU during training…"

"Where was Kagome?" Kakashi questioned immediately.

"They separated us…" He said quietly before swallowing hard and grimacing at the memories flashing back. His eyes liquefied, flesh thin as paper _gone_, bone bare to the heat and bubbling with marrow… then a small hand, cool as ice touching him and flooding through his body and releasing him… then opening his eyes only to see Kagome's face worn by a sinister girl who stood over a man screaming a gurgled moan until he coughed blood and begged for her to stop—

"Sasuke-kun?"

"She took care of it…" He barely got out and a tremor rattled his spine. "She was… I had never seen her like that."

Sakura paled but Kakashi stood and clapped a heavy hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "It's the Kyuubi, Sasuke. It makes her violent and Naruto vice versa. Yamato is being recalled so that he can fix this…" It was a mess what was going with those two and them living together was not helping matters.

"That's why Jiraiya-sama is here too, Sasuke-kun. He's with Naruto right now to help him better control the Kyuubi's influence." But Sasuke didn't seem any bit reassured by her words. "Kagome-chan will be fine… even Itachi is keeping an eye on them."

Sasuke shook his head. "My brother is not acting selflessly, Sakura." His words were low and resentful. "He's playing games… acting out of curiosity—_it's sick." _

"Sasuke-kun, don't say that. Itachi is doing what he thinks is right and he believes—"

"Sakura, _step back."_ Kakashi pushed his willowy student behind him and launched a palm over Sasuke's throat. In matter of seconds, chakra glowed and electrified the air and flittered about in an icy blue flame. "Interesting…" And Kakashi pulled his palm back and imprinted on Sasuke's pallid flesh was a ring of kanji.

"A summoning contract?" Sakura whispered.

"Not quite… now hold still, Sasuke, this is going to sting—"

Sasuke grit his teeth as a skin crawling sensation crawled up his throat and bubbled up. He gagged—

Only to have Kakashi's hand spring down his esophagus. "Now open up—"

Sasuke was heaving on the ground by the time Kakashi was slamming hard claps on his back. Sasuke felt something lodge in his throat and all breath escape him.

"Now, now, Sasuke, don't quit…" And with one final slap to the back he lurched the object with the rest of his breakfast.

Sakura raised a brow and clinically observed Sasuke's vomit on Kakashi's carpet. "Well, that was the most bizarre thing that's happened today."

Sasuke was panting and Kakashi crouched over the contents with an inquisitive hand. "It seems you had eggs for breakfast, Sasuke."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. "Sensei…" But her revulsion increased tenfold when her teacher actually began to _dig _around the yellow mush. "Oh, now that's just disgusting."

"Ah, here it is." And Kakashi triumphantly held up—

"A scroll?" Sakura dropped her books. "Sasuke-kun, why on earth would you _eat_ a scroll?"

Sasuke wiped his mouth on the wrist of his sleeve and slumped against the wall dejectedly before giving Sakura a flat, expressionless look. "I _didn't_. Obviously."

Kakashi quickly unraveled the slimy parchment and examined its contents. "Well, aside from it being quite digested, it's a Genjutsu." And with simple hand movement the scroll burst into flames.

"Genjutsu? Again?" Sakura breathed, hovering over Sasuke worriedly.

"Hai, someone summoned it through Sasuke's throat chakra, cast the illusion as it traveled down and from there it laid dormant in his stomach. Quite creative… it must have been set to release once he was away from Itachi and Kagome's chakra signatures so that they wouldn't notice the energy marker." Anyone with enough sense in such things would have detected it.

"Why?" Sasuke croaked. He didn't feel any different.

"It's a subtle illusionary tactic, meant to plant doubt in your mind about those the Genjutsu user was meant to separate you from." Kakashi stroke his masked chin. "Amazing really, within five minutes you were already demonstrating distinct doubtfulness towards Kagome and revulsion towards Itachi."

"It must have been playing on his subconscious, sensei. No illusion in such a small scroll can be so potent, it probably heightened—"

"That's enough, Sakura." Kakashi raised a hand. Sakura's words were clearly upsetting his little protégée. "What's done is done and was done most likely during that training bout you had, Sasuke."

Sasuke's skull banged on the wall as he cast a pining look up to the ceiling and hit Sakura's prodding hands away. "I really wish Kagome hadn't left…" He muttered.

"Left? Left where?" Sakura practically pounced on him.

"ANBU took her, Itachi left afterwards and I didn't have any other place to be…" He gave Kakashi a withering look.

Kakashi shrugged, nonplussed. "That's horribly depressing, Sasuke, but where did they take Kagome to?"

Sakura beamed. "Oh, oh! I know. Shishou was talking about memory extraction and chakra comparisons between Naruto and Kagome but… I said for her to wait until Yamato-taichou came back. Jiraiya-sama supported me, but Shishou said that she would do the memory extraction as soon as… oh, Kami… as soon as they came back."

"At least Tsunade gave a few days leeway, yes?"

Sasuke's eyes hardened and settled on the rain pelting outside Kakashi's open window. "Itachi said he _petitioned_ for it," he growled.

"Well, he did discuss it heavily with the Hokage and I, yes," Kakashi began another session of chin-rubs before speaking once again. "I suggested the possibility of her memories being sealed along with other aspects of her energy or powers. We then quickly deduced the rarity of her having a Kekkei Genkai and then we were quickly dismissed… upon which Itachi and I conversed briefly and exchanged a few not so cordial words. Believe or not, Sasuke, your brother doesn't find me nearly as charming as so many others do."

Sakura gave her sensei a dry look. "Really? _So many others?"_

"Astonishing, I know."

Sasuke rubbed his temples with closed eyes as he tried to repress a throbbing ache. "Then what happens now?"

"Well, Itachi must have high hopes of full recollection but I have a strong sense that they will find very little - if anything they will merely stumble upon a very well placed defense."

"Defense?" Sakura echoed.

"If there is a seal, then it wouldn't be outlandish to assume that there were certain precautionary measures to ensure it _remained_ intact."

"And I highly doubt that any of these precautionary measures would be pleasant," Sakura intoned dryly.

"Excruciating or highly traumatizing, most likely… saa, but this is a growing process for us all, is it not?"

"I'm stopping this." Sasuke began to pull himself up.

Sakura pinned him down with what felt like the weight of an elephant.

"Ah, no you're not, Sasuke. ANBU means classified, classified means federal, federal violations get you landed in a place nobody knows where and then we all are supposed to forget about you and your cute cowlick," Kakashi smiled and his grey eye crinkled as he patted Sasuke's _cute_ hair. "Not even ANBU get everything they want. Now sit back, relax, and let Sakura stick a needle in your arm because Kami knows there are only so many ways to test the antidotes to lethal toxins."

Sasuke struggled but Sakura remained solid with hands pinned on each shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, don't listen to sensei. He doesn't like Itachi—"

"Not particularly."

"So, of course he doesn't _agree_ with it but that doesn't change the fact that he's your brother and you should trust him. He wouldn't do anything without forethought and Shisui wouldn't dare let anything accidently happen either. Besides, Kagome trusts Itachi. Why else would she go along with it?"

"Kagome_ knew_ Itachi went to the Hokage. She knew he prodded where she didn't want him and though she may get royally pissed, it didn't change the fact that she still came round and eventually saw the necessity of it all."

"It's painful, but he _is_ helping her," Kakashi quietly mused. "However, I do not agree with any of his methods." They were positively manipulative and callous.

Sakura blinked, bright eyes like fresh summer grass or ancient jade. "You see?"

Sasuke stared up at his teammate before nodding stiffly.

A smile split across Sakura's lips. "Now, prostrate your arm so I can inject my newest creation into your antecubital."

But Sakura wasn't even able to load her syringe before a knock rapped on Kakashi's door.

Kakashi plucked himself up to answer. Sakura peered around the corner while Sasuke's stare remained riveted on the rain's streaming shadows on the wall. Murmurs passed, with Sakura trying adamantly to read lips.

"ANBU…" she breathed once Kakashi had stepped aside to let them in. They walked in as shadows and Sakura repressed a chill.

Sasuke stiffened. "How many?"

Sakura held up four fingers behind her back and then made the distinct hand signal: _incoming._

Sasuke was barely standing before the quartet was looming and crowding Kakashi's studio to the hilt.

"Hyuuga…?" Sasuke stared down Neji who was standing in the background, masked and silent.

Sakura kept quiet and Sasuke couldn't be more thankful. He didn't want to have to save her neck because he could barely save his own.

Kakashi was scratching the back of his neck as he walked back in. "I take it you won't have time for tea and will just get on with collecting my student, then?"

The leader nodded and sidestepped upon which the two other ANBU mirrored, giving way for Neji to step forward.

Sasuke immediately stepped forward, expecting—

"Haruno Sakura," Neji spoke tersely and watched as Sasuke froze, eyes muddled with confusion. "You and I have been requested…"

"Requested?" Sakura repeated.

The leader of the ANBU squadron made a sniff to the air from under his mask. "Is that… oleander?"

"Why, yes it is," Kakashi said. "My dear little Sakura wants to become a Jounin so we're playing around with some…"

"You don't have permits, Hatake," the leader said.

"Considering it was growing on that old decrepit fence where children play and was never removed, no matter how many petitions were made, I see myself actually doing my community a favor and should be paid for it," Kakashi's eyes cast a sardonic light.

The leader eyed the broiling pots in the kitchenette. "The fumes are highly toxic—"

"That's wonderful to know but we're using the sap, now go on Neji," Sakura crooned, a bit too sweetly.

"Kagome-sama specifically wanted you and I to be her sole company," Neji lapsed from one formality into another.

"No one else?" Sasuke took a heavy step forward.

"No one else," the leader said threateningly, as he mirrored Sasuke's actions—

There was a very audible _squish._

The ANBU squad leader had just stepped very conveniently into Sasuke's vomit.

"Gomen ne Taichou-san, but Sasuke-kun had a bit of an adverse reaction to his latest dosage—"

"You," The ANBU Captain pointed stiffly towards Sakura. "Let's go. Now."

And Sakura glumly followed the small entourage as the ANBU Captain proceeded to drag his messed boot across the entirety of Kakashi's apartment.

"Well, they were charming," Kakashi said as the door was closed briskly behind them and he observed the unsavory trail left behind. "And since Sakura's training was interrupted and Naruto is off with Jiraiya-sama, you have my sole attention now, Sasuke."

Sasuke simply slumped to Kakashi's futon, his hands cradling his skull.

"Now, now, don't start sulking yet, you still have to clean up every speck of your undigested breakfast and bile before we can get you mastered in swordsmanship."

…

Sakura remained glued to Neji's side as he led her through the maze of halls. They were on an endless path of whitewashed walls and fluorescent lighting that did a number on her complexion.

When ANBU or interrogators passed, Neji would politely pull her alongside the wall like they were invisible and didn't want to have the higher ranks run into them. Sakura had barely enough time to snatch her green raincoat before she was shuffled so hastily away from Kakashi's apartment, to which she was regretting immensely because she was almost positive everyone within a mile radius could hear the wet rubber squeak.

They finally came to an inconspicuous door, where Neji unhooked his own standard grade ANBU cloak and hung the drenched dark fabric on a hook. He gave Sakura a chilled glance and she quickly followed suit only to noisily fumble with her buttons. They were in the shapes of daisies.

She was most definitely sure Neji had rolled his eyes from under his crane mask.

Finally free from her rubber carapace, Sakura felt a little bare in just a bleached red tunic and thin sandals that were more favored by the civilian populace than shinobi.

Neji went in first; it was dark inside and she hesitated for a moment before following. They were quickly engulfed by darkness which was only broken by a wide, severely tinted window.

A door opened across and Morino Ibiki entered, a fresh stream of light on his back. "Good, you're here." And he flicked a switch so that the observation room was flooded in blinding fluorescents.

Sakura nearly jumped when she saw two ANBU standing against the walls, only revealed to her now by the newfound lighting. Neji remained utterly unaffected.

"Well?" Ibiki thrummed impatient fingers on his clipboard. "Get in there." He stepped aside to let the two enter the interrogation room.

Neji once again took lead while Sakura meekly followed; she winced under Ibiki's gaze, but all intimidation vanished when she was finally ushered into the little room.

"Hello, Sakura."

"K-Kagome-chan?" Sakura choked on air at the sight.

Kagome was strapped to a gurney; every limb was bound and rebound so tight that her hands were bone-white and her veins protruded in protest. Sutras were plastered on her skin, just along her wrists and her coverall had been stripped to only chest bindings and compression shorts.

"This isn't what it looks like," Ibiki droned as he began to test the restraints, plucking at the leather and rattling the locks. "Inoichi will be back in a moment, he's brought another as well."

"Oh," Sakura nearly squeaked with relief. Ino's dad would be a familiar face.

"May I ask why we are here?" Neji asked, eyes trailing along Kagome's neck. Around it she still wore that strange necklace. Like black pearls and fangs.

"I want you two to witness this," Kagome began but her eyes couldn't completely meet them. "Inoichi-san will be using his Kekkei Genkai to forcibly unlock my memories. This is an excellent opportunity for you, Sakura, to see the different layers of the mind and help you to navigate Genjutsu easier and Neji—" Her eyes flicked over to him. "You're going to learn as well. I need you to sense Genjutsu and be able to dispel it, even better than I." She couldn't have her team be so weak in one area and have her time solely devoted to making up for it.

Sakura shifted on her feet, this probably wasn't the best time to bring up that Kagome actually did miss something and that Sasuke had bore the brunt of it just barely an hour ago.

Neji nodded and a few moments passed before a Yamanaka Inoichi walked in, pale blonde hair trailing down his back and hands stuffed into his trench coat.

Behind him was a much slighter and female version—

"Ino-pig," Sakura growled.

"Forehead," Ino snubbed.

Kagome rolled her eyes from her restrained place and Neji just about mimicked her.

"Huh, even in the freezing rain you still can't find a decent shirt," Sakura remarked on Ino's ever apparent midriff.

"And it always amazes me how you never fail to look even _more_ flat-chested than the last time I saw you."

"Ladies—" Ibiki began but Inoichi shook his head.

"This is how they always greet each other."

But Ibiki wouldn't delve into the psychological clusterfuck that was and decided to promptly proceed straight to business. He turned straight to Sakura. "Haruno, Yamanaka Ino will be your link of sorts to witness what proceeds between Inoichi and Higurashi." He then waved Neji over who approached cautiously. "Hyuuga, you will monitor the chakra's activity between all of them." He then turned strictly to looming over Kagome. "That will be sufficient for both of them to learn what you wish of them. Now, can we proceed?"

Kagome smirked. "But of course."

…

Naruto groaned. He'd never depleted his chakra so excruciatingly low. Now he barely was even able to walk up his building's stairs to his apartment, let alone summon enough chakra to scale a wall.

It was Ero-Sennin's fault. He wanted him to get better control of Kyuubi and the only way to do that was to actually bring forth the demon's chakra…

Which meant depleting his own and that was no small feat, for he had enough stamina for ten standard Jounin and emptying his chakra reserves was something akin to emptying the ocean with a paper cup…

Well, maybe that was an exaggeration but it had sure felt that way when Jiraiya had made him summon his three thousandth Shadow Clone and then threw him off a cliff to spurn the fox into action.

It was a common thing, but Jiraiya had pushed it up a notch by actually letting him reach three tails…

He repressed it, eventually and it came with a nice conversation with a batshit crazy fox who was snarling about things he'd rather not think about…

Jiraiya claimed he was improving.

Naruto was positive the fox was putting on face.

Naruto half-collapsed onto his futon with his front door was wide open and an incessant nudging on his calf.

"Whaaa?" he groaned into the sheets. He opened a single cerulean orb to glance down at Pakkun, draped in twilight and the better half of his comforter. Obviously he had disturbed the inu-nin.

Then it occurred to him, why should he care?

"That infernal pest is out killing rats and pup still hasn't come back," Pakkun drawled.

"Kagome-chan said she wouldn't be back until tonight."

"It_ is_ almost night."

Naruto kicked off his sandals and barely snaked out of his shirt before plopping back down. "She meant…" He yawned. "Late. It's barely six." He'd take a nap and then by the time she got back they could go out for some dinner. It was grating knowing that she was off with ANBU but it was only every other day. Tomorrow she would train with him…

And with that thought, Naruto pulled the sheets over his head and nestled himself into a much needed sleep. He fell into a dark dreamless sleep that satiated every muscle in his body like rain to a desert.

The next time he opened his eyes, the light cast onto his sheets was no longer the golden ochre of a departing day but rather an icy white that bleached out and claimed an already late night.

Naruto instinctively groped the sheets and when they turned up cold…

He shot up like his spine was made of steel. "Kagome-chan?" He called but his brief echo was his response. His apartment was dark, laced across with silvery ribbons of moonlight.

Something small looked up from the foot of the bed and Pakkun stretched with a tongue-curling yawn. "Pup's still not back." He then sent a glare over to the lump of creamy blotched fur curled on the windowsill, with two pointed ears flicking in sleep and the continual swooshing of a tail.

But Buyo was still waiting.

"What time is it?" Naruto demanded and was already fishing for his shirt.

"Few hours past midnight," Pakkun hopped down to the wooden floor, already knowing where this was going.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Naruto growled as he flipped his mattress in search of his shirt.

"It's under the bed and I can't track her now. Rain has washed away her trail." That was the whole point of wanting to go after her earlier, by sunset the rain had let up and probably would have yielded something. Now, with a new onset of showers and even colder night, her scent had gone cold.

Naruto was already hiking his sandals up to his ankles and zipping his orange and black fleece. "Doesn't matter, I know where she is."

Then he left.

And Pakkun swore he smelled the bloodthirsty scent of a fox.

…

Kakashi apparently was extremely skilled with a tanto, and after using up the better half of the day at a funeral ground and cleaning up vomit, a good hearty spar was much appreciated.

And since Team Seven's training ground held the memorial stone, all training had been closed down for the day for the funeral. Sasuke didn't mind, the last place he wanted to be near was a grave.

They were currently training in a gully that was more mud than not and was tucked in one of the back pockets of the forests surrounding their village.

Kakashi explained a whole new set of wrist movements and gave Sasuke a few more styles for swinging his straight blade before they moved on to more flashy techniques…

Sasuke showed Kakashi how he could channel Chidori and maximize its range through water. Kakashi quickly chastised its simplicity and said it was utterly predictable.

Sasuke then remembered Kagome had fallen for it.

"She's young and was going extremely easy on you," Kakashi said in between strikes.

Sasuke caught Kakashi's tanto before it went careening towards his jugular and threw it back with a flick of the wrist. "Anko said she was a dual wielder."

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kakashi caught his weapon and twirled the heavy pummel lazily. "A wakizashi is a katana's counterpart. Sort of ironic, the same weapon is used for seppuku."

Sasuke vaulted left only to flank Kakashi's right and bring his blade roaring down.

"Ah, touchy subject?" Kakashi rose a brow at Sasuke's sudden flare in temper. "My bad."

The last thing Sasuke wanted chastised was Kagome's suicidal past. "Kagome heals quickly."

"How so?" Kakashi countered and their blades were at a standstill. Locked and moaning in metallic protests.

"She—" Sasuke grit his teeth when Kakashi pulled out his much shorter blade and made a jab for the belly. "Her hands were torn during the swordsmanship class."

"Torn?" Kakashi mused on this for a while until he did quick sidestep and dodged Sasuke's sideswipe. "That's typical, she hasn't exactly been a very active ANBU member. Flesh grows soft, Sasuke, splits under the pressure. Again, I believe this is eerily metaphorical—watch it!"

Sasuke barely had time to blink before Kakashi sent him sprawling due to an ill placed step in his stance.

Sasuke felt his skin crawl with gooseflesh as his ANBU suit become drenched and thickly caked in mud. "By the time she was collected by ANBU, they were practically healed."

"I'm sure whatever memories they pull from her will yield something to that," Kakashi outstretched a helping hand, the clouds parted from behind his sensei's pale hair. The sun poked through like honey gold cider through a pinpricked ladle. "I think that's enough for today."

Sasuke stood with Kakashi's help and he sheathed his dripping sword briskly. "My father wants Kagome and I betrothed," Sasuke finally said. It was always playing heavy on his mind nowadays.

Kakashi simply stared, blinked even, but never said a word on the subject.

"You should oil that as soon as you get home, don't want it to rust," Kakashi instructed idly filling the silence with useful advice.

He should've known better…

Sasuke did a barely perceptible nod before turning away from his sensei.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called and his student cast a swift glance over his shoulder. "Things are… delicate, it may become very confusing at times. Just be sure that whatever decisions you make, that they're your _own_."

It was a mouthful but Sasuke had nodded and had flickered out of sight before the sunlight could touch him.

Sasuke had come home and just like the prior nights before, he avoided _everyone._ He came in through the back gate, shed his muddy boots and slipped down the hallway into his bathroom. He stripped, feeling his chilled skin for the latest bruises to add to his repertoire before cranking the shower to near boiling point. Sasuke inspected a rather deep contusion under his armpit where the hilt of Anko's katana had clipped the skin and had started a blood blister. He stood in the shower until the once scalding water ran cold over his scalp and flushed back.

Afterwards, he receded back to his room where a fresh bowl of bean soup stood along with dumplings and steamed buns on his nightstand.

He ate greedily, as Kakashi's apartment had only yielded a measly stew of herbs that Sakura had failed to make poisonous. He hoped she had failed anyway and since he had _lost_ his breakfast earlier, Sasuke welcomed the hot meal as well as the solace.

His mother understood his reticent behavior, he didn't want to have to face his father and neither did he want to have to face that down the hall his brother's room was still empty.

_Where was he? _Was the first sentence he had said to his mother in days. But his kindhearted mother had simply smiled sadly before walking away to wash the bloodstains from his shirt.

He only saw his father once, which was the day before when he had come back from the Hyuuga district fresh from a very rattling conversation with Kagome.

His father had ignored him completely and shut the door of his study behind him. He wanted to ask, _why her? _

But Sasuke got answers for neither and now, laying on his futon and staring at the ceiling was a much more pleasant pastime than chasing after his brother's image.

Minutes, maybe hours passed but soon Sasuke fell into a restless sleep full of snakes with swords for teeth and oceans of shattered porcelain engulfing him until he had no choice but to swallow—

Sasuke awoke stiffly and in a cold sweat, feeling the same gagging sensation Kakashi had induced on him hours earlier to cough up that scroll.

Restlessness getting the best of him, Sasuke fetched his chokuto from under his bed and slipped out of the shoji screen to the inner gardens.

He began the tedious task of following Kakashi's advice and began to oil the blade. Unsheathed, he ran a clean clothe across its edge and girth, it gleamed in the moonlight and being perched on a stone bench next to the koi pond made it an almost meditative movement in the serenity of the late night. He quickly applied the oil with soft dollops at corresponding intervals along the blade and began to lightly knead it in until it was but a barely perceptible sheen.

Sasuke sheathed his weapon, laid it by his thigh and simply sat. The cricket-song was slow and distant. The babbles of the koi were silent save for the soft laps of a brimming pond from a day's rain could be heard.

It grated Sasuke that Kagome was living with the dobe, and not in the incessantly irritable way but rather in the gut-churning it was really starting to piss him off sort of way.

Sasuke stiffened when he felt the immediate flash of Naruto's chakra signature coming within range as if it was summoned by his mere thoughts. It flared like the heat of a fire that was much too close and was disturbingly frenetic and _wild._

_Fuck, _just what he needed: Naruto on the verge of losing it _again._

Wasn't Jiraiya supposed to have fixed that by today?

Either way, Sasuke stood and began to begrudgingly track down his halfwit of a best friend and hopefully stifle the fox with a well placed blow to the head…

However, before Sasuke could get across the courtyard, a nicely placed reverberated _boom_ shushed all other nightlife.

A deafening silence settled over the Uchiha compound before all hell broke loose.

That was when Sasuke heard Naruto screaming.

"Fuck," Sasuke bit out again under his breath before taking off across the courtyard and leaping with a strong burst of chakra onto the manor's roof. Shingles slid and Sasuke bolted across with his chokuto firmly placed in hand as he reached the edge.

Over the precipice, Sasuke looked over the front entrance where Sasuke caught the faint silhouette of his father—

Firmly gripped within Naruto's grasp, shaking him and screaming obscenities.

"I know he's here!" The Jinchuuriki roared. "Where is he?"

But Fugaku remained stoically silent and his ever scowling features folded into an even nastier expression.

Sasuke leapt down quietly, slid the sheath off his sword off and placed it loftily onto the Jinchuuriki's shoulder. "My brother isn't here, dobe."

Naruto whipped around, and his eyes screamed of violence. It was amazing how so little could set Naruto off like a fuse nowadays. "She's not back," Naruto rasped. "She has to be with _him."_

"My brother hasn't been home in days," Sasuke declared and quickly sheathed his sword. The police patrol that regularly stopped by their manor would be approaching any minute and his mother was slinking back to the house to most likely call a ANBU squad if a fight broke out. If anything he needed to maintain the façade that Naruto didn't require any forceful measures.

"Where's Shisui?" Naruto growled low. "He'll know."

Shisui had been mysteriously misplaced as well. He was never far from Itachi.

"Kagome was taken by ANBU," Sasuke said. "Itachi was with me. He's not with her."

Faced with cold hard logic, Naruto shifted uneasily on his feet and did what any animal did when it was out of options…

He ran.

Except, it was straight into his house and his mother had barely enough time to dodge the charging Jinchuuriki before he disappeared into the recesses of its halls. Mikoto scurried down the steps and went straight to her husband.

"Fugaku? Are you alright?" She patted him down looking for any signs of injury. Fugaku had been rattled pretty bad.

But Uchiha Fugaku pushed his wife away.

Sasuke sent a pleading look over to his father. The last thing Naruto needed was to be arrested.

Kagome would never forgive him…

"You have three minutes," Fugaku said crisply before his son went streaming in after the Jinchuuriki.

Sasuke weaved his way through the dark halls, and followed the growls of frustration and the thrashing of furniture.

Naruto was in Itachi's room—

"_Dobe—!"_

Tearing his bed to pieces.

Sasuke clamped a hand on Naruto's shoulder and yanked him back with all the strength he could muster.

And Naruto must have been a lot weaker than usual because both boys went sprawling to the floor when Naruto toppled over and his weight brought Sasuke down with him. Sasuke's sword went clattering out of his grip as he rolled himself to pin Naruto down. Chest to chest, Sasuke gripped both of Naruto's wrists and slammed them back down.

Naruto growled low in his throat and began to push Sasuke off of him.

"Stop," Sasuke rasped and to him, his voice sounded pathetic. "Just… _stop."_

Naruto stilled but only for a moment. _"Where is she?"_

"She's with Sakura," Sasuke breathed a bit winded from having to wrestle a feral Naruto. _Along with others…_But Sasuke didn't need to mention them because Naruto trusted Sakura with everything. She was the sister of his heart. "ANBU took them both, something to do with memory extraction."

"I…" The fire in Naruto's eyes dimmed and soon Sasuke was staring at the calm waters of the ocean. "I don't understand."

Sasuke shook his head before getting off of Naruto now that he was calm. "Neither do I." He offered Naruto a hand.

Naruto took it instinctively and scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. "Sorry Teme, I kind of lost it when I saw your dad…"

"You're not the first…" He murmured as he gathered up his sword and inspected the damage done to Itachi's mattress. Did he really have to shred twelve-hundred thread count sheets?

Naruto ran an aching hand over his skull. "There's seventeen Uchiha police coming inside…"

Sasuke stiffened, he could only sense nine.

"I can smell them," Naruto explained.

It was then that Sasuke caught the glassy sheen of claws on Naruto's fingertips. "What are we waiting for, then?" It wasn't like he was going back to sleep anyway.

"I say we finally go find your brother." With a stiff nod, Naruto ducked out of Itachi's shoji screen and into the gardens.

Sasuke quickly followed.

…

It took nine hours to dispel every mental barrier and countermeasure Kagome had strategically placed within her mindset.

And even then, they couldn't fully disable every single one properly. So they went _around._

Ino kept Sakura linked with Inoichi and Kagome's passage. It was more ephemeral than anything, she was completely aware of the chilling draft in the interrogation room just as she was aware of the fact that Kagome was currently leading Inoichi down an old stairwell.

"Once we're down we can disable the final barrier that holds my encoded memories," Kagome's voice echoed as her fingers dragged along the metal railing and her little steps reverberated.

Sakura sighed, it was fascinating but apparently Kagome had a thing for stairwells and bridges, which she called 'back doors' as some of her mental defenses were a bit too bothersome to fully disable.

Inoichi followed strictly after Kagome, always on the alert but with an expression of awe at the marvel of intricacy the prodigy had devised within her own mind. "I could not imagine tackling this all my own."

Kagome threw a knowing smirk over her shoulder. "That's what happens when you're a Genjutsu master. You live with the knowledge that any one of your illusions could backfire and attack you instead." And to have an unprotected mind was just plain foolish. "You should see Uchiha Itachi's…"

"Really?" Inoichi rose a curious brow but he was too caught up in his thoughts to question further.

"Uh, Kagome-chan?"

"Yes, Sakura?"

"When would Itachi show you such a thing?"

Kagome waved it off. "It's not hard to assume." And they continued their descent.

An eternity later, they came to the bottom. Kagome was now draped in a white blouse and black culottes. _Civilian wear._

Sakura found Inoichi wearing a much more muted shinobi coverall instead of the heavy interrogator's trench coat and herself wearing a rather shapeless shift that burned cherry red and was cut just above the elbows.

This was Kagome's mind and she was a master of it, if anything.

The bottom platform was just as dimly lit and suffocating as the rest of the stairwell but at the far end, lay a door.

It was a nondescript make of wood, unpainted and looked positively ancient and out of place here within the confines of modern lighting and metal frameworks.

"Here it is," Kagome announced and strode over to plane entrance simply enough. Her eyes searched over it. "Huh, could've sworn I put a handle here somewhere…?"

Sakura blinked. "Maybe, check under the mat…"

"Very funny," Kagome drawled but she did peek under the peculiarly placed 'welcome' mat. "Oh, that's right. I remember." And Kagome stuffed a hand down her blouse and came up with a rather strange necklace. "Sakura, _catch—!"_

Sakura barely did and fumbled with the beads awkwardly as some poked her skin.

"Hold it up for me," Kagome instructed and took three steps back from the door and made an elegant hand sign that was completely foreign to Sakura.

Sakura strewn the beads through her hands and let them hang heavily from her fingertips. They were heavier than they looked.

Kagome muttered something too low, too fast—

The beads took on a piercing white glow and as they flared they shot towards the door, one by one, hitting it and making everything within this…_ realm_ tremble.

Once lodged heavily into the wood, like shuriken in a target practice, the shape of them was unmistakable.

"Why a moon?" Inoichi genuinely questioned the outline the beads were now lodged in.

"The crescent?" Kagome questioned as she stepped towards the door before shrugging. "Isn't that what we're going to find out?"

Inoichi remained pensive on that and probably even more suspicious.

As soon as Kagome brushed her fingers along the wood, the door swung open with a creak…

"You might want to close your eyes, it's always bright at first," Kagome said right before she was engulfed in sunlight.

That was when Sakura began to smell saltwater.

Everything went black after that.

…

The rhythmic swaying awoke Sakura, along with the rough heat of the sun blazing on her skin.

Her eyelids parted, shut softly at the light, then reopened to vivid cobalt sky and the radiant lobe of a sun that hung loftily above. She let out a sigh as she draped a hand across her forehead for shade.

Droplets fell from her wrist and that was when Sakura noticed her skin was sticky. Sakura sat up slowly and felt water rush quietly under her.

She was _drenched._

She opened her eyes fully, only to see the endless reflection of an ocean around her, columns of clouds in the distance and herself sitting quite complacently on its too still of waters…

That was the moment Sakura realized she was sitting on water.

She yelped.

"Sakura," came a familiar young voice.

"Kagome-chan?" Sakura stiffly turned around to meet the young prodigy's gaze. "Where are we?"

"I don't know…" Kagome sat, knees to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Her eyes were staring fixedly on the horizon, where the ocean met sky, and one couldn't tell the difference. She was perfectly dry and was now adorned in a creamy summer yukata.

Sakura looked down on her rather soaked attire and to her dismay a pretty scarlet yukata of the same cut was soaked as well.

"It's just a place," Kagome said simply and ran a hand along the water's surface. "…in my mind. Memories come here and then they just drift down…" Her eyes darkened as they settled on the never ending depths. "They think my memories are sealed. But the fact is, they're all right here. Ripe for the taking. I'll just drown if I try…"

Sakura stiffened. "Where's Inoichi?" She frantically searched the undulating waters; they were such a crisp midnight blue.

"Right here," Kagome murmured and with an outstretched hand, a slight disturbance over the glassy surface appeared and shape came up from the waters.

Yamanaka Inoichi floated to the surface, pale blonde hair unbound and streaming as he was dressed in a haori and hakamas that were colored in a gritty charcoal.

"He'll be awake soon enough," Kagome said quietly, eyes numb. "It just gives us some time to talk now."

"About what, Kagome-chan?" Sakura prodded tenderly.

Sakura watched as Kagome closed her eyes.

'_Kagome, Kagome…Oh why do you look so sad?'_

_She looked up to the woman. 'Haha-ue?' She felt the coolness of the pond next to her, felt her smaller body and the slick grass beneath her knees. She felt herself sway towards the waters again…_

_A thin elegant hand grasped onto her this time. 'Don't fall in again, Kagome… you can only fall so many times before you truly drown.'_

"Haha-ue… please," Kagome whispered feeling the memory ebb away and leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

"You remember your mother?" It wasn't a question. Sakura began to inch closer to Kagome, but she literally felt like she was oceans away and it was unlike walking on water with security of chakra at your feet.

Kagome nodded. "Not her face, just a few words. Her clothes. Her smell. I remember names but everything else…" She looked up to Sakura, eyes reflecting murky depths. "Everything else is at the bottom of the ocean and I'm simply too terrified to jump…"

"Why didn't you tell us that?" Sakura asked, but her voice had an edge. "If you remembered something you could have told us… told me, or Naruto, or Sasuke or Shisui— _what about Itachi?"_

"Nothing. I can tell you nothing."

"Why?" Sakura demanded.

"Because… Because I don't want to hurt you! I don't want to put you all in danger! There are things about me, in my past that… are horrible. Much worse than any of you shinobi can imagine…"

"Like what?" Sakura tried to stand, but her legs were unstable. She was fed up with the melodramatics and Kagome always falling on her own sword. "What could possibly be so horrible, you can't tell us?"

Kagome's face fell, and it was like cracking porcelain as her own words reverberated back in a harsh memory.

'_Tell us.' Itachi spoke somberly, his voice carrying perfectly through the air._

'_Now you want to know?' She snapped, low and tight. She took a breath. 'You have no idea how bad it really is… that's what I know. I know… and I'm terrified of it.' Kagome's eyes were wide and she was trembling. 'You have no idea… absolutely no fucking idea.' Angry hot tears streamed past. 'So don't tell me… you want to know.'_

Kagome opened her eyes, face stolid and blank. "Remember when Itachi fainted? Back in the hospital."

"After you healed him, yes," Sakura remembered. "He was there for some routine tests. Sasuke and Shisui were in the room. So was Sai." But the creep was too emotionless to be noted as a person at times.

"I nearly blinded Itachi because I lost my temper…" She whispered and a slight breeze wafted over them, tossing the waters that they sat upon. "Then after Sasuke and I fought in Kawa… his healing was slowed. He couldn't even regenerate chakra properly."

"But you healed them," Sakura stressed. "Sasuke came back unharmed and Itachi is alive because of you!"

"There's something wrong with me…"

"There's nothing wrong with you," Sakura's voice took on a pleading. "You have a gift. A _child _with a gift. You're a prodigy."

Kagome's face twisted, her young features turned into an unearthly expression that didn't match her age. "And I killed a child!" She screamed finally.

Sakura deflated. "…what?"

"During our mission in Kawa. There was a boy I was supposed to do a routine Genjutsu on—He died, Sakura. He just died," Kagome croaked, eyes wide and soon the towers of clouds in the distance converged on them too quickly to be natural and the sky darkened. "It's because of me. Because of this—" Her small hand outstretched itself and swayed over the endless tides. The distant storm clouds rumbled but were held back. "My past, my present and my future are ruled by one fact: that everyone I ever care about _dies."_

"Don't say that," Sakura finally reached Kagome and despite the tepid waters and the balmy sun, her skin was cool. "We're stronger than you think," Sakura said fiercely as she gathered the small girl to her. Kagome's tense muscles melted and she relished in the warmth Sakura exuded and soon every chill in her bones melted and Sakura's yukata dried and warmed with the sun. "So start trusting us, because that's where the hurt stops and love grows…" Her mother used to say that to her.

Kagome nodded, it had to start somewhere. "I told Neji a little…"

'_Neji?'_

'_Hai, Kagome-sama?'_

_There a pause. 'I think I'm dying.'_

'_Why are you telling me this?'_

_Kagome shrugged. 'Because you're the only one who won't react… __horribly__.' _

'_Is that what Uchiha was demanding to know the other night?'_

_Flashes of a previous night with Sasuke standing over her and demanding answers of what she remembered… she, putting up a useless fight, nothing was just as simple as __remembering__…_

'_No. Sasuke wants to know of my past… they all do. They seem to think it will unlock answers…'_

'_Will it?'_

_Kagome sighed. 'No, it will only open up more questions… questions that will frighten them.'_

Sakura's leveled pitch brought her back to the present. "Do you want to tell me a little more?"

Kagome nodded. _Just a little._ "To start, the boy I killed in Kawa was a demon…"

…

"I'm sorry, Teme," Naruto muttered as he ran frustrated hand over his scalp. His hair was unbound and damp from rain and sweat.

Sasuke shed his soaked sleeping shirt and dragged his feet on the doormat. He hadn't really cared about shoes when the prospect of finding his brother had been on the floor ready for the taking.

Shisui's house had been vacant. The old abandoned estate of his parents was where Shisui resided ever since he had come of age and had moved out of the custody of his grandmother. It was a dreary place for Shisui never bothered to touch up the varnish or hire a gardener.

Shisui had been their first and only lead, aside from searching every possible residence in Konoha.

But apparently his cousin never strayed far from his brother and Naruto and him quickly caved in when the sun had started to rise.

"You can stay here," Naruto had said quietly as he slipped into the bathroom leaving Sasuke alone in the indigo light.

Silently they both had agreed to wait back at Naruto's apartment for Kagome's return and so they did.

Naruto took a shower and Sasuke watched as the sky lightened from the kitchen window. The clouds finally parted and somehow autumn had sprung itself onto them for the air was chilled and gave no whisper of leaving them anytime soon.

He wandered aimlessly through and his eyes lingered on the small set of slippers next Naruto's sandals, the discarded laundry strewn across the floor, the obvious feminine toiletries he had glimpsed in the bathroom and then, his eyes finally landed on the single futon.

Much too cramped to allow much space for two occupants and certainly not enough to avoid touching…

Sasuke found himself letting a grating sound rub in the back of his throat. He was annoyed and the only comfort was plopping himself down on the despised thing and sharpening his blade with a whetstone Naruto had crammed in his nightstand's drawer.

He was seriously considering returning the favor of what Naruto did to Itachi's bed.

Naruto walked out a few minutes later, with blonde hair dripping and a towel wrapped low on his waist. He stretched, the scars on his tanned skin glared back more viciously than they ever did on Sasuke's ashen flesh. The Jinchuuriki had had his fair share of puncture wounds along his ribs, which were at present just angry knots of scar tissue dotting across. Sasuke could even detect the silvery ridges of a scar along Naruto's hip from the time he had almost lost his right leg.

"Do you usually walk around like that, Dobe?" Sasuke's words were sharp through his teeth and his gaze was downward as he refused to look up at the infuriating Jinchuuriki.

"Coming from a guy who is half naked on my bed sharpening a sword, yeah, I do," Naruto had a q-tip lodged in his ear and he wrinkled his nose as he twisted it. "Why?"

"_In front_ of Kagome?" Sasuke's let the whetstone sing across the blade.

Naruto immediately bristled and forgot the other ear. "_Why the fuck_ would you care?"

Sasuke stood, let the whetstone clatter to floor and twirled his blade about his wrist before it fell steadily into a comfortable grip.

"I haven't done anything, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled back at the unspoken accusation. "It's your brother that we need to worry about. He's the one who's sick in the head."

"_Don't,"_ Sasuke struck his sword threateningly in Naruto's direction. "—talk about my brother. The fact that she's still here is… _ridiculous_. You've only had so much leniency due to Itachi's pity."

"_What?"_ Naruto's voice turned guttural.

"This environment is unsafe. The Kyuubi makes you into nothing more than a feral animal. You are not suited to watch over her let alone yourself."

Naruto's eyes dimmed, the ferocity dissipated and his eyes were clear once more. "Why are you saying these things?" He rasped. Hurt pooled as his best friend, the one who had brought him back from the fox's vise time and time again and had always comforted on those cold nights when he dreamed of blood and fire and screaming; was saying such horrible things. "This isn't like you at all, Teme." Sasuke was turning his sword on him like he was nothing more than an enemy. "Sasuke?"

And that's when Sasuke lowered his sword and then dropped it. It clattered to the ground as the Uchiha grimaced and his hands went to his skull. A splitting headache formed between his temples and he could only guess the source.

'_Genjutsu? Again?' Sakura breathed and hovered over Sasuke with worried eyes. _

'_Hai, someone summoned it through Sasuke's throat chakra, cast the illusion as it traveled down and from there it laid dormant in his stomach. Quite creative… it must have been set to release once he was away from Itachi and Kagome's chakra signatures so that they wouldn't notice the energy marker.' Anyone with enough sense in such things would have detected it. _

'_Why?' Sasuke croaked. _

'_It's a subtle illusionary tactic, meant to plant doubt in your mind about those the Genjutsu user was meant to separate you from,' Kakashi stroke his masked chin. 'Amazing really, within five minutes you were already demonstrating distinct doubtfulness towards Kagome and revulsion towards Itachi.'_

And now he had just done the same to Naruto.

"Its fine," Sasuke barely got out and fell back heavily on the bed. "Forget I said anything…" He should have known no ANBU placed Genjutsu would have faded with no lingering side effects.

Naruto just stood there for a long agonizing moment and Sasuke felt as if his friend was too idiotic to comprehend what had just happened.

And Sasuke honestly did not have the energy to explain it.

Instead, Naruto walked heavily over and plopped right down next to him. "You okay, Teme? Things between you and Kagome-chan seem to be spiraling downhill lately." If he had spied anything at the Hyuuga estate the night before last, it was that whatever was transgressing between Kagome and Sasuke, it was putting a heavy strain on their relationship.

Sasuke ran a hand over his scalp and down his face. His headache was subsiding slightly. "My father wants Kagome and I betrothed." There, he said it _again._ Now came the gut wrenching silence and all the judgment to fill in the cracks.

Naruto remained pensive, which was a rare feat for him until he spoke in a low measure tenor. "Do you want to be?" He asked suddenly.

The question was fresh and brought a whole new whirlwind of thoughts.

But to Sasuke there was only one answer and it was terrifyingly clear.

"Yes," he said it before he could even think. It was a ragged thing that had clawed its way up his throat and across his tongue.

"Why?" Naruto immediately shot back. "Why her?" But it was antagonistic, just clear cut and_ raw_.

Sasuke mulled on this for a long moment. It was a sure thing. A new revelation. Why her out of how many suitors that had pursued him? This epiphany made his heart soar to a jolting speed. It was liberating to know where she finally stood in his life. "I can't describe it…" Sasuke finally said. "In Kawa we fought. She drew blood and so did I…" And in those moments, he'd never felt more of an equal in someone. He wasn't striving for the impossible to reach his brother's potential or holding himself back for a teammate. He was just him, in those moments he didn't have to change a thing… "She's my equal. The only person I have met to be called as such."

Naruto shook his head, but a small ghost of smile curved his lips and a remnant of a fang poke through. "Does she?" He asked. "Does she want the same?" Betrothal led up to marriage…

Then just as jolting it him, the answer came once again.

"_No_. She doesn't know what she wants," Sasuke breathed. "I don't even know…"

"She's just a kid, Teme," Naruto murmured as his blue eyes stared numbly at the floor.

"And that is what so frustrating…" He said heatedly under his breath and there was a darkness emanating from him that was suffocating.

"_**That**_as well as my brother adds to frustration," Sasuke was grumbling now. "I can't place where Itachi fits into her life…"

"I don't think we need to worry about him for awhile…" Naruto laced his hands behind his neck and leaned back into the futon.

Sasuke felt a jolt run through his being. _"We?"_

Naruto stiffened. "Did I say that?"

Sasuke cast a look down to the lounging Jinchuuriki. "You're joking…" Sasuke drawled.

But Naruto was smirking with fangs. "See, that's the difference between you and me, I've known since the beginning."

"The beginning?" Sasuke gave an unimpressed look and raised a brow.

"Yeah, pretty much…"

"And you call my brother a pedophile…"

"Hey!" Naruto shot up and punched Sasuke in the arm.

The realization then hit the both of them.

"Now what the fuck do we do?" Naruto groaned.

"_We_ are going to do nothing,_ I_ on other hand…" Sasuke began a bit bemused as he rubbed his arm.

"Are going to do what?" A voice interrupted them.

A very young voice that was stifled with tears.

And in the doorway stood their little ANBU with flesh blue with morning light and wearing the bare necessities as she rubbed her swollen eyes.

"Kagome-chan?" Naruto was already getting up.

But Kagome was already walking, no,_ running—_

Straight into Naruto who was enveloping her and there was just too much bare _skin_ for Sasuke to handle. "Why are you crying?" His voice was so warm, his eyes so bright…

"I'm just… _happy._" Kagome had her eyes clamped shut, tears glistening down and Sasuke could see her spine undulate and mold to meet Naruto's form. Naruto's hands were clawed and hard with calluses on Kagome's back. Naruto inhaled her scent, reassured that she was still using his shampoo as her bangs tickled his nose.

It was an intimate moment, one too raw to witness so casually.

It was then Sasuke noticed Naruto kissing her head and that Kagome was smiling.

Sasuke cleared his throat irritably.

Every muscle in Kagome's little body snapped tight and her eyes gaped at him with a wan mortified expression. "What are you doing here?" Kagome's voice was clear as glass.

"You just saw me," Sasuke drawled.

Kagome quickly disentangled herself and gave Naruto a one over. "Baka!" Her face bloomed red. "Pants—_Now!"_

Naruto simply sat. "You're the one in just underwear."

"You weren't just strapped down with chakra seals_—get dressed_." And a pair of sweatpants careened through the air before the bathroom was slammed shut with Kagome safely inside and assumed to be getting dressed as well.

Naruto hiked his ratty sweatpants up and under his towel, before whipping them away and stomping over to the bathroom door.

"Leave her—"

"Shut up, Teme. I'm not going to pretend nothing is going on between us anymore," Naruto whispered harshly as he banged on the door. "Kagome?" The affectionate suffix was dropped and Naruto's voice was a few octaves deeper than normal.

"_Go away,"_ came her muffled response.

"C'mon, open up."

"_No."_

"But Teme has a confession—"

"_Dobe—!" _Sasuke was on his feet, his heart pounding in his ears.

"_He does?"_

"Yep, now come out," Naruto tried a bit more civilly as he leaned on the door, because they all knew he was about a millisecond away from busting it down.

"_What kind of confession?"_ Kagome's voice sneered.

"How many kinds can there be?" Naruto called back and his teeth were glinting in a cocky smirk.

"I'm leaving." Sasuke didn't need to hear any more, so he did what anyone would do. He was going to slip out the window.

But just as he was sheathing his sword…

The bathroom door opened.

"What do you want to tell me?" And Kagome was standing, draped in the Dobe's shirt.

Sasuke was about just about to step on the windowsill when Naruto dipped down to his knees with a glint in his eyes.

"This," Naruto said simply, before he sunk his lips onto hers.

And all Sasuke could do was watch.

* * *

**Author's Note: **muwahahaahaa now the real_** fun**_ begins! ….*_breaks into song*_ Limeney, lime, lime!Limeylimelime! limelimelimelime! LIME~! ( i'm excited for the next chapter:33)

**Chapter Twenty-Four**: First kisses never end in one, or with one boy for that matter. Leave it to Kagome to have three and then some. (Rating will changed from **Teen** to **Mature** next update)

Update Schedule

100+ = _Wednesday_, **February 23**(One week)

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **March 2**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **March 16**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **April 13 **Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **May 11**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	24. La Petite Mort

_**Author's Note:**_ This is really the chapter where you decide whether you want to continue with the story or not. If you're not comfortable with the various themes below (which represent the story as a whole and not this chapter specifically) then simply stop reading the story. It's quite simple, don't complain about something I've been hinting at for two years and am warning you specifically beforehand. And yes, I do realize what child abuse is and in its strictest definition, this story contains it. The other information below is what's been asked about/requested. On the subject of pairings, each pairing stands on its own, meaning it's SEPARATE from the others and has its own unique dynamic. This is _not_ a HAREM fic. However this does not mean they cannot overlap or that Kagome cannot be with more than one. Everything has its consequence and I believe that no relationship is ever set in stone nor does it ever truly end;) Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy. ~KK

**Warnings:** _**Child Abuse, Language, Gore/Violence, Sexual/Adult Situations, Suicidal and other disturbing themes.**_

_**Rating:**_ Mature

_**Pairings:**_ Itachi/Kagome, Sasuke/Kagome, Naruto/Kagome, Shisui/Sakura, Shikamaru/Temari

_**Ages:**_

Kakashi: 30

Shisui: 23

Itachi: 20

Neji, Lee, TenTen: 17

Sasuke & Sakura: 16

Naruto: 15

Kagome: 12

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Four~**

La Petite Mort

* * *

_poetry, we have not_

_history, we have lots_

* * *

"_To start, the boy I killed in Kawa was a demon…"_

…

Those words echoed through Sakura's mind frame like embers caught on a wind. They were catching on all too distant forests and sparked a flame. They then grew to a blaze and then finally, an inferno.

Sakura prodded for every detail.

Demons? The only ones she was familiar with were the Bijuu, specifically the Kyuubi no Yoko.

Kagome quickly corrected this, there were many demons. Sometimes they hid themselves in the elements. They could be a lesser breeze to trip a wandering traveler or a great tempest hell-bent on annihilating an entire village. They could lope alongside animals, dark specters commanding a pack of wolves or flittering silhouettes among flocks of birds. And sometimes they were nothing at all, just ethereal shadows that were glimpsed under the moonlight.

"ANBU knows about this?" These creatures that were living in the shadows and wreaking havoc on mankind.

"ANBU always has known." Kagome only nodded. "The Hokage, the council, and every Black Op in ANBU has been given the same rundown. They are more than just legends, Sakura. They're here, just waiting in the shadows and too rare to be caught. I almost didn't believe the warnings myself… mistook it as misconstrued folklore or a fantasy of some deranged old shinobi…"

"But what about the legends? The time of the rampaging Bijuu and the great Sage? Back then apparently, demons ran wild and mankind spent most of their time fighting them then fighting each other."

Kagome smirked. "The Sage of Six Paths… his time was a time of war and chaos. He brought peace because he gave mankind a means of actually fighting back against the demons and then a sense of purpose to organize them."

Then, unbidden like the moon hung in the daylight, the shinobi was born.

They went from fighting each other and fighting the demons, to simply just _fighting _demons.

Mankind united against a common foe and became powerful.

_Too powerful. _

And they washed over the lands like a pestilence, snuffing out every demon like a guttered flame.

"Then, the demons disappeared. Old history has you believe we killed every last one of them but some were smarter than us and somehow the ones who weren't just mindless beasts had enough mind to withdraw and never be heard of again."

"Then what about now? You said they still show up, however rare it may be—you _just_ killed one a few days ago."

"Lesser sprites still slipped through… They lay low on their bellies and only rarely show themselves. They lead a horrible, out casted existence, Sakura. Any greater demon disappeared with the rest of their kind." Kagome quickly toyed with the water currents below them, molding them into spindly water dragons of glass that danced and preyed upon one another. "A few believe the demons that have a higher intellect, the ones who somehow repressed their bestial nature went far, far away… only to lie in wait and watch as a newly empowered and organized mankind devour itself."

Sakura's brow knitted. "_The Clans."_

Kagome nodded. "With their common enemy nullified and all the power in the world still at their fingertips, war eventually sparked again and this time, it was more than just battle, it was an all out power struggle and we turned on one another once more." _With the Rikudo Sennin departed, we didn't stand a chance._

"Until we eventually united again," Sakura chirped. The Uchiha and Senjuu founded Konohagakure no Sato and it was a similar story for other Hidden Villages.

Kagome shook her head with a sharp look. "We're no more united than the _youkai _themselves."

"_You-kai?" _

"Old word." Kagome dispelled her hold on the water and her draconic creations burst in a thousand shimmering droplets. "It's what demons essentially are."

"What about now? What are _we_ doing now about the demons who are still left?"

"There's an old sect of monks, far off to west. If we can't kill it, we employ them," Kagome spoke thinly. "It's rare, but ANBU still gets called upon to deal with a stray."

"But _you_ did," Sakura stressed. "You killed a demon—_youkai_, whatever. "

Kagome looked up, eyes half-lidded and no more relishing in the facts than a child appraised for eating its vegetables.

"_How?"_ Sakura finally asked, her fascination was palpable and flittering in her eyes like fireflies skittering across an old mountain mere.

"How?" Kagome echoed softly. "I… just did."

But Sakura wouldn't relent and Kagome told her of the experience. How the creature lured her away, waited until her defenses were down and then sprung the attack. The terrible pitch the _kappa_ emitted, how her seared hand from Sasuke's _Goryuuka _and her ruptured eardrum had healed in an instant and finally, what the demon had screamed over and over again.

"Miko?" Sakura mimicked. "A shrine maiden? That makes no sense."

Kagome shrugged. "I didn't tell Neji what it called me, but a woman… she was old, she called me it too."

"What woman?"

"A village elder, some medicine woman. She reminded me of someone…" Kagome struggled for a name, a face, a wisp…_ of anything. _She came up blank.

"Maybe you did know her?" Sakura stressed.

"No," was Kagome's immediate response. "I would recognize anyone immediately."

The conversation then lapsed in a very tenuous prodding of Kagome's memories. Sakura asked for vague pieces of information that Kagome couldn't form.

"What about the monks?" Sakura conceded finally, rendered a bit hopeless at the lack of memories Kagome held onto. They were just fractured things, blurred faces, strong emotions or just whispers of names.

"The monks…" Kagome mulled over it. "I've heard of what they can do, but they are secretive and the treaty they hold with the Hidden Villages is old: we don't disturb them when they pass through and we never follow."

"But there must be similarities, they must have_ some_ answers."

"Even if I did agree with you, Tsunade and the council would never condone such a mission. To go beyond borders and into the uncharted lands? No one returns from there, Sakura, no one." Kagome was adamant and her eyes were far off, reflecting the never-ending seas and the columns of clouds that slid softly as powder white mountains in the distance. "Besides, mine are different… my_ powers_ are something that I was born with, not taught. The monks, they banish demons to another realm, seal them away with sutras and incantations. I'm just_ different_…I wished the youkai to no longer exist and it simply happened. I willed Itachi to live, and I healed him… just as well was angry with him—I wanted to make him _pay…"_

"And you nearly blinded him," Sakura finished, jade eyes averted.

"Yes." Kagome's head bowed and her chin tucked into the under layers of her yukata. "It's a two-sided coin, that much I know now. I heal as much as I can destroy but I can heal anything and I can destroy only the_ bad_."

"Bad?" Sakura murmured.

_They said I nearly blinded you…' Kagome had whispered weakly._

'_How can you be so sure?' He had asked with warmth in his voice._

'_Because…they said…' They explained how his optic nerve and retina had been… 'Damaged. That's all they could explain.'_

'_Purified is far more accurate term…'_

"Only what's tainted or impure…"Kagome snapped out of her reverie and locked gazes with Sakura. "Itachi understood its nature, long before I could and he spoke of our histories being intertwined and the more I think on his words the more I understand."

"The Clans!" Sakura had the revelation flood over her like the ocean they were sitting so casually on. "You must suspect you had a Clan that specialized in exterminating the demons."

"No… I don't think so." That didn't sound right to Kagome. "But I think it runs along those lines."

Silence settled in, as the two kunoichi thought heavily on what was said.

"But what's so impure about Itachi's eyes?" Sakura wondered aloud. "The Sharingan is simply a Kekkei Genkai…"

"Kekkei Genkai were sometimes wrongly obtained, the Clans not only fought against the demons… they _mutilated _them." The early shinobi ancestors drank their blood, forced them to do ghastly deeds, made contracts with them and some even mated with the youkai.

"You mean… the Uchiha—?"

"_Especially,_ the Uchiha," Kagome annunciated every syllable. "Why else do you think the council has them isolated in that compound?"

_They are scared of them._

"That's horrible…" Images raced through her head… _yuki onna ripped to pieces as they were raped, youkai pups decapitated as shinobi drank their blood, imps roasted on a spit to be eaten…_ "Is that why you were scared of the Sharingan?" Sakura asked delicately.

"That's part of it…I believe." Kagome let out a heavy breath. "As well as Uchiha Madara murdering my family."

Sakura felt her blood turn to granite, frozen and rock-solid in her veins. _"What?"_

"Now you know," Kagome dragged her fingertips on the water's surface, creating glassy eddies. "And, no, I don't know why or how or when… Itachi swears he's working on it but I believe he's just as terrified as I am."

Sakura gripped Kagome's hand fiercely. "Don't be," she promised. "No matter what, don't doubt _us._ You have a home now and all I want for you is to promise you'll always come back to it. Remember us._"_

Kagome just let a small smile curl her lips and her face shuddered as if she might weep. _"Okay."_

There was a groan in their immediate area, a few short steps away in distance.

"Inoichi is finally coming to," Sakura chirped as he groped about for a holding and only came up with a fleeting handful of water.

"Sakura…" Kagome began as she eyed the Yamanaka bring a labored hand over his face and squint in the sunlight. "You have to know everything I tell you is absolutely_ never_ to be repeated." This information was hidden from the general for good reason and she was bound by a contract to never reveal the horrible truth of their world's history. "Promise?"

Sakura just released her hand and said nothing but she nodded fiercely back with a fire in her too bright of green eyes. _You can trust me._

Inoichi recovered much faster than Sakura and was already attempting to sit up before they could even get to him. Sakura scooted tenuously, feeling still too unsteady to walk while Kagome walked briskly across the tides as if they were a sidewalk.

Inoichi stayed pensive and observed, he knew where they were and spared Kagome the obvious questions. "I didn't expect this, however," he stroked his chin and cast a swift glance down his attire. He was soaked and Sakura considered dousing herself in the saltwater once more to avoid the sticky aftereffects of being sundried like a freshly caught tuna. "Maybe a seal, with a well placed defense system as Ibiki had predicted but not _this_…" Inoichi looked down to the dark blue waters that promised an impossible depth. "_This_ is unprecedented. We expected a seal, or a barrier."

"I warned you all," Kagome sounded a smug, but she was more snappish than anything as it was her version of: _I told you so._ "I have no idea how to retrieve my memories either." _So don't look to me for answers._

"Did you do this?" Inoichi asked.

_Why on earth—? _Kagome gave him a flat look. "Subconsciously? I doubt it. I may be a master of the mind, Yamanaka-san but even this is beyond me." _How many people just plopped an ocean in the middle of their brain?_

"This place…" Inoichi stiffened and got to his feet to observe his surroundings. He found nothing, just unending water and sky. "I'm no longer aware of the outside world," he whispered and his pale blue eyes widened a fraction.

Sakura felt a shock of panic rattle her spine. In the stairwell she had been very aware of _both _realms, of Ino's hands on her skull as well Kagome's voice echoing among the metal framework. Here… she was just _here. _

_Stuck._

Like in a dream you couldn't wake from.

"Calm down," Kagome assured the both of them. "We are in the deepest levels of my consciousness and your own minds are too deeply in tune with mine at the moment to be aware of anything else."

Inoichi nodded, but he didn't seem rest assured in the least. He paced like a caged puma, stalking to and fro, contemplating his next move and ultimately a means to escape. "How much reign do you have on this place?" he then asked.

Kagome stepped a few paces back and did a quick kick to the water's surface. A splash rocketed forth towards Inoichi, then froze—

As if it was frozen in ice, he could see the sun shine through the sheet of still water and the droplets hang in the air like glass beads.

"Complete and utter control of the surface waters," Kagome said as-a-matter-of-factly as one touch shattered the crystalline wave and sent it splattering back down. "Meaning any memories I have made since my arrival to Konoha, I can call forth… the deeper waters, the ones _before_… are beyond me. I cannot control them."

"It seems you have an extensive past then…" Inoichi stroked his chin, his damp blonde hair hung in his face and down his back. It was hardly practical. "This is simply metaphorical, have you tried diving down into the depths?"

Kagome's face then slacked and her recourse was dry. "I can't swim."

Sakura's brow twisted and her lips quirked into a heavily repressed simper. _"What?"_

"_I can't swim,"_ Kagome repeated, annoyed.

Sakura was already giggling. "It's a life skill, how can you _not swim_? You're in ANBU."

Kagome's eyes narrowed to murky depths. "One: no one taught me, two: Water is my second element and who needs to swim when you can walk on it?"

"That's three."

"Shut up."

"Alright," Inoichi cut in, seeing as the two girls were about to squabble like sisters. "What about the memories slipping through? It said in the report you were having night terrors of your family's massacre and flashbacks of times even before the trauma."

"Night terrors, no longer a problem," Kagome quipped. That was the whole point of snuggling up to a bedmate every night. "Flashbacks, I can't explain them either."

"Show me a memory," Inoichi instructed. He needed to see the process.

Kagome shrugged and then held out a hand. Palm down to the ocean and one creamy white yukata sleeve billowing idly in the wind. "Here's one from my terribly depressing childhood…"

_You're still in your childhood_. But Sakura bit her tongue and watched as an image materialized and skittered along the water's surface as crisply as the sunlight.

_Small fingers clutched a little notepad in tiny hands. She looked up, there were big kids playing on the sidewalk._

_They all ran in a circle around another child who had her hands covering her eyes. The children began to sing…_

"_Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage…"_

_They were calling her name._

"_When oh when will she get out?"_

_They all began to smile and run faster._

"_Up before the light of dawn."_

_It looked like a lot of fun. _

"_Crane and turtle slipped and fell." _

_She ran up to the circle and squeezed her way through the kids. The girl with her eyes covered looked nice. She tapped on the girl's shoulder. _

"_Who is behind you? Can you tell?"_

_Everyone stopped and the girl in the center uncovered her eyes. "Huh?" _

"_Oi kid you just ruined it." A boy blurted out. _

"_We'll have to start all over now…" _

_Another sighed. "She looks lost."_

_The girl in the center ignored the other kids, she had long dark hair and dark grey eyes. "My name is Yui." She said. "Uchiha Yui." She wore a grey high collared cheongsam with a red and white fan printed on the back. "What's your name?" _

_Scrambling, she nervously scrawled the kanji of her name onto paper._

'_Kagome' _

_She held up the notepad to girl known as Yui. _

"_What a weird name." Yui muttered._

"_Can't you talk?" A kid blurted out. _

_She scribbled down more writing. _

'_No' _

"_She's a freak." She heard the older kid comment. _

_She wrote again. 'I want to play'_

"_You're kind of young, Kagome-san," Yui pointed out. _

"_Plus, how can you play if you can't talk?" A girl said smugly. _

_Kagome shrugged. She just wanted some friends…_

"_C'mon Yui let's go back to the compound." _

_They began to walk away from her. _

_She began to follow them…_

"_Kagome-san go back home." Yui urged politely. "Your parents must be worried." _

_She began to write._

'_I don't have any parents'_

"_She's an orphan…great…" _

_Yui sighed. "Kagome-san go back to where you came from." _

_She scrawled down a few kanji. _

'_But I want to play'_

"_You're too little. Go play with kids your own age." The Uchiha girl said. _

'_But I want to play with you'_

_Yui's brow creased. "Listen I don't want to play with you, so go away." She snapped and then turned swiftly around, walking away from Kagome, making her feel very alone._

The memory swiftly stopped and dissipated back into the waters, and Kagome's face was hard. "And that's precisely why I hate Uchiha Yui."

Sakura pouted, what a horrible little person she was, even back then! "And her being betrothed to Itachi has nothing to do with it?"

"Well, maybe a little…"

Inoichi cleared his throat. He didn't need to see anymore. "Alright, I see no need to proceed any further… I'm going to report my findings to Ibiki so that we can regroup and hopefully reattempt… or at least get our bearings on the situation."

Kagome perked up, but then quickly sagged at the realization that they would be back in full force. "Okay, then, should we go?"

"This is _your_ brain, lead the way," Sakura gestured.

Kagome smirked, snapped her fingers and—

Sakura opened her eyes to bright fluorescents and a hand steadying as she swayed towards the tile.

"You okay, Forehead?"

Sakura looked up to her friend, Ino's skin was wan and a cool sheen of sweat had plastered itself on her. She had kept her linked to Kagome and Inoichi for more than a half a day.

"Sixteen hours, thirty nine minutes and forty two seconds," Neji's voice droned and he was already unfastening the restraints that held Kagome down as his Byakugan deactivated and its veins unthreaded themselves from his temples. He blinked several times as his usual paled eyes had become bloodshot from such prolonged usage.

Sakura felt her legs become incredibly stiff from kneeling on the floor for so long. Ino happily leaned back away from her, once Sakura assured she was quite acclimated to her surroundings.

Inoichi was quite out of breath and sat heavily back, he was the one who had been at the heart of the energy influx and had been standing the entire time.

Kagome was at the center of them all, laying perfectly still on the gurney and she was utterly silent. The prodigy sat up slowly and looked up to Sakura. "I think I want to go home, now."

Sakura smiled.

…

_Why?_

_I can't describe it…_

_Why her? _

_She's my equal. The only person I have met to be called as such._

_Does she want the same?_

_She doesn't know what she wants. I don't even know…_

_See, that's the difference between you and me, I've known since the beginning._

…

"_What do you want to tell me?"_

"_This," Naruto said simply before he sunk his lips onto hers. _

…

It was horribly, horribly, horribly…

_Transfixing._

And weird, and wrong, and wet and—

_Oh my fucking god!_

Kagome felt her spine collide with the wall, she was pinned and Naruto's light peck had turned sensual as she felt his lips coax hers a bit open. She let out a heated breath through her nostrils but her slim throat clamped horribly and the feeling was exhilaratingly suffocating.

And now all she could think inanely and self consciously about, was how chapped her lips were.

Naruto's were soft and warm, and the flesh hungrily searched hers. It was oddly discomforting that she had rougher lips than him but Kagome's thoughts were dashed when something warm slid into mouth, between her teeth—

Kagome let out a grunt of protest, but it came more elongated and more like a moan.

And Naruto shuddered against her, as he struck a knee between her legs and his hands went under the loose fabric of his own shirt that she was wearing.

Chest bindings gave little reprieve as she felt nails rake across them and down her ribs until they were plucking at exposed flesh.

She jumped at every touch, and soon gooseflesh had swarmed over her overly sensitized skin. Kagome weakly pushed against Naruto's shoulders, but with each protesting movement he became more and more unmovable and she was further hiked up the wall.

She was going to bite off his tongue—

But then his knee slid straight up to her crotch.

Kagome's eyes lolled as he caught her hips and rocked her back and forth.

Kagome did finally let out a throaty moan and as she felt her tongue rake against Naruto's fangs, she couldn't help but knot her fingers in his damp hair. She fisted her hands tight and felt Naruto grunt harshly at her pulling.

It soon became a battle, while Naruto rolled her body on his knee, she pulled viciously on his hair. She felt each rough movement elicit another jolt, but the feeling was awkward and was more of pleasurable background music to the activities up north, where currently Naruto's fangs were sinking into the soft cushion of her lower lip.

Blood flushed over her tongue and she broke away with a gasp. Naruto's throat was bared, his Adam's apple protruding as his head was craned painfully back from her grip on his hair. But no matter how strong her grip, he bent forward and attacked the crook of her neck.

Kagome felt a spine tingling sensation slide from the corner of her jaw and trail down her throat. Naruto's tongue was fervent in its rough massage leaving a warm wet trail of saliva and blood. She felt his fangs graze her neck, lightly clamp and pinch the skin—

"_N-Naruto—!"_ She barely got out and her back arched as he hungrily sucked on too fragile flesh. Her grip on his hair loosened and soon his own hands were at work again, peeling away her chest bindings and slipping her—no _his _shirt up her torso.

Naruto groaned against her collarbone as he felt her thighs fasten around his knee and her body rock at an achingly slow pace. "Take off your shirt," he grunted.

Kagome didn't say anything back. She just wanted to bask in this, such light pleasure-ridden touches and little moans. She'd been a kunoichi long enough to have been taught how to coax a man out of sex or how to pry information without using it.

And what they were doing was much more innocent than what she had been taught…

However, this was far more enjoyable than she ever imagined and she experimentally rocked her hips quite hard against Naruto's knee and up his thigh. It hurt, but the motion was enticing and was the most suggestive thing she'd done in her life. She also let out a low breath that dragged across her teeth and against Naruto's skin in a very sensual manner.

Naruto promptly lifted Kagome off the wall and nearly fell on top of her as they landed on the floor, entangled. Kagome let out a stifled laugh as she felt Naruto's lips smirk against her skin, he then proceeded his ministrations on the sore spot on her neck which had finally split and was sluggishly bleeding. He lapped at it and Kagome griped at the conflicting sensations.

The weight under her was gone, but her whole back was supported and now that Naruto was free from holding her up he was free to focus his energy and concentration on her infuriating chest bindings. Which were currently in downy shreds along her ribs and stomach.

Kagome felt awkward while Naruto was wriggling above her, juggling to keep a sense of hers occupied while he prepared for another. He was hot, literally and his panting and furious grunts weren't helping.

Kagome soon grew frustrated as a cool sheen of sweat plastered itself over her skin and all she could do was lay there as the only thing she had been given to experiment with had been yanked out from under her.

Literally.

Kagome let out a sigh and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. "Move… _closer_," she barely got out because his chest was almost crushing her. _"—ow,"_ she grunted as he let his full weight selfishly rest on her as the last strip of binding snapped.

Naruto paused and she could feel him looking at her. "What?" He asked a bit dazed and a little anxious now that his goal was accomplished.

"You're… squishing me," Kagome protested. Didn't he realize that it actually hurt when you put nearly two hundred pounds of body weight on a _girl's _chest?

Naruto promptly lifted all weight off. "Oh my god, sorry Kagome-chan! I'm so sorry—_are you hurt?"_

Kagome lay flat as a board, more annoyed than ever. "…no."

That officially killed the mood.

"I told you to move closer…" Kagome drawled eyes straight on the ceiling because Naruto's were frantic.

"I did!"

The bone crushing chest to chest move wasn't what she wanted. "I didn't mean that…" Kami, did she have to spell it out for him? She was too _**short**_, he needed to move his pelvis up—

"Oh…" Realization came and Naruto's sheepish grin was a bit too heartwarming.

Kagome couldn't stop it. She started to laugh. "…we're so awkward," she muttered as she buried her head into the crook of his neck. "You don't have to do all the work," she whispered as if it was some sort of intimate secret.

Naruto gave a nervous titter. "Sorry, I'm a bit anxious…"

"I can tell," Kagome smiled and cupped his cheek with her hand. "You just gave me the world's worst hickey."

Naruto's eyes flicked down to her neck and he winced. "Oh fuck," he frowned.

Kagome then stiffened like jackrabbit about to bolt. "Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto blinked and searched his apartment and found the once occupied space by his futon vacant. "Heh, must've left to take a cold shower," Naruto smirked with fangs and quickly dipped to nip at her jaw line.

Kagome quickly whapped Naruto hard on his chest. "That's disgusting and you're plain crude for doing that to me in front of him."

"Doing what?" Naruto smirked.

Kagome rolled her eyes, cheeks blooming red. "I hate you."

"I don't," and his lips were lightly pressed on hers before sinking deep again.

Kagome felt her face flush and immediately she responded with a pining breath and ran her hands through his hair. Her back arched and like a fire once dim, the embers stirred and soon the same welcomed heat threaded itself through her being and rooted itself deep in her marrow.

Naruto broke away first but drew closer. "I could do this all day," he breathed. "This is better than ramen."

Kagome felt a smile tug on her lips but then it quickly vanished as a thought, one of many, sprouted.

"What's wrong?"

"Why did you do…_ that_ in front Sasuke?" Kagome asked vacantly, shaking away the hormones clouding her perception. It was time to get back to reality, where people didn't react on impulse.

"He's repressing things that are hurting him… more than he realizes," Naruto admitted suddenly, his eyes dim without their usual mirth. "I kind of… just pushed us all forward. Teme isn't good at expressing things."

"_Us?"_ Kagome blanched. "Oh god… don't tell me he—"

"Yep. That's why he's so grumpy around you all the time." A grin, too white and wide split across Naruto's lips. His fangs were almost too naturally set in. "And I'm always so…"

"Short-tempered?" Kagome smirked.

"I was gonna say 'eager to please'."

But Kagome's anxiety only heightened at the innuendo. "Oh my god, and I yelled at him about the betrothal…He must feel horrible." Kagome threw her head back with a thump against the floor. She groaned with the nagging thought, _things are a mess_. "I need to talk to him."

"You mean we can't try again?"

"No," Kagome made a move to push him off but Naruto was leering with an animalistic gaze. "I'm serious, get off or we're never trying _anything _again, ever."

Naruto's eyes flattened and he seemed to pout. _"Fine." _Naruto rolled onto his back, eyes stubbornly locked on the ceiling.

Kagome scurried away, and in her wake she left flurries of tattered wrappings wafting like feathers. Naruto was still on the floor when she plopped down on their futon to fasten the last knot of a fresh set. She slipped on a slim turtleneck that could pull up and cover half of her face, but simply doubled-over due to autumn's blustery arrival and Naruto's ventures with his fangs. Kagome tied knots at her calves of her chunky cargo pants before sending Naruto a pointed glare. "Get up."

Naruto groaned. "But I don't want to go back to the Teme's house. I was just there last night."

"If this is going where I think it is, you're going to want to be there."

Naruto was already at the front door.

…

The Nara district was always a quaint place. In fact, it was ranked number three in his most favorite places in Konoha. It didn't have the opulence of the Hyuuga, the strict authoritarian feel of the Uchiha or the zoo-like chaos of Inuzuka. It wasn't a frantic self-absorbed pit of pastry shops and florists like Yamanaka or had some unidentifiable musky odor emanating from its heart like the Akimichi. It felt more akin to a lackadaisical stroll in the park… with deer.

To Hatake Kakashi, everyone here had the right attitude about things.

If he happened to enjoy a pornographic novel from time to time in broad daylight, there would be none to spurn him. (Maybe a dejected sigh of exasperation, but surely there never was a Nara who could work up the energy to actually attempt a snub.) If he happened to want to shoot back some sake or partake in a casual game of shogi (with an opponent of worth) then he could always fish out a companion, preferably when both activities coincided.

So, he did just that.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here, Kakashi?"

With Nara Shikaku, no less; who'd just happened to open with a_ very_ abrasive gambit.

"Just passing through," Kakashi said as he found himself on the defensive a tad early for his tastes.

Shikaku's scars that laced over his eyelids creased. "It's not considered uncouth to pass on information that may be of great use."

"Didn't you know? Gossip is unmanly," Kakashi stroked his chin and then moved into a counter.

Shikaku grunted and found himself utilizing his Silver General to save his entire rank of pawns. "Is this about Kagome?"

Minutes passed, Kakashi's Lance obliterated Shikaku's second rank only to be taken out mercilessly by the King.

"Uchiha wants her to be betrothed," Kakashi answered. "I thought I should warn you."

Shikaku nodded. "Itachi?"

"No."

Shikaku looked up. "Who then?"

"Sasuke," Kakashi murmured as he found his Bishop cornered. "Fugaku knows you will never agree. He's planning something."

"As always, though I myself cannot guess what he will blackmail me with."

"He will blackmail _Kagome_ to get to you," Kakashi rescinded from the shogi board.

"I knew his apology at the clan meeting was just a front," Shikaku muttered. "They said some horrible things about you as well Kakashi."

"I could imagine," Kakashi quickly lost taste for a game he was sorely losing as well as the offer for an exchange of information. He wasn't here to swap and he didn't want Shikaku to feel obligated. Plus, he didn't really have the stomach to listen to what the Uchiha were brewing up about him. It was then, Kakashi detected a slight musk on the wind, the kind that followed a rat after it had been caught in a sewer flooding.

He really needed to get Pakkun to a bath, _soon._

"One moment," Kakashi excused himself from the game and Shikaku gave little fuss, if any reaction at all as the Copy-nin stepped off the veranda and into the fenceless glade of Shikaku's estate.

Deer huddled in a grazing herd along the tree line, and Kakashi waited for his summon a few yards off from the Nara estate. A felled log was comfortable enough albeit it was out of place among the plains as well as damp from the rains the day prior. Kakashi settled himself idle, watching the leaves toss with wilting grasses and enjoying the crisp autumn morning. That was, until a rustle caught his ears.

Pakkun darted into sight like a flea and was panting at Kakashi's toes the next moment.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi rose a brow, he only instructed Pakkun to stop trailing Kagome and Naruto if something drastic happened or required immediate attention.

Pakkun licked his nose. "Pup… the fox… nearly mauled her neck off."

"Ah, I see," Kakashi squatted down to Pakkun's level. Mud squished beneath his sandals and the pug's tongue lolled. "What provoked this?"

"Sasuke was there, he… Naruto and him I don't know, they smelled like two alphas about to go at it then the scent vanished, Naruto's turned fox and Sasuke's became muted. They came to some sort of agreement before Pup walked through the door. Then Naruto pounced on her like she was a bitch in heat—"

Kakashi promptly pinched Pakkun's stubby jaw shut. "You are going to tell me where they are now, and nothing else." Nara Shikaku was only a handful of yards behind him and he didn't want a single utterance leaking through.

Pakkun let out a whimper until Kakashi released him. "Gone. Sasuke's scent spiked and it startled him. By the time the Pup noticed he was already back at the Compound. They went after him."

Kakashi bit out a curse. "Did you smell Sai nearby?"

"Of course, that dusty smell is always nearby."

_Itachi would know by know…_

Kakashi let another curse run over his teeth. "Alright, get going. I'll take care of it from here on."

Pakkun just nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Kakashi stood languidly and strode back across the wet grass back to Shikaku and the pitiful shogi game. He topped off his sake, downed it and then regrettably informed him of his departure.

"We must do this again, Shikaku," Kakashi said as he stepped of the veranda once more. The sunlight was a little wan, but warm despite the icy zephyr.

Shikaku quickly agreed but before Kakashi could disappear in a cloudlet of smoke, he asked the nagging question. "Who told you?"

_About the betrothal._

"Why, Sasuke himself," Kakashi gave an eye-crinkling smile. "After all my little protégée still believes girls are icky."

At least, that was Kakashi's only hope at this moment.

"Imagine that," Shikaku mused and watched the Copy-nin depart into a puff of smoke and leaves.

"I'd rather not."

…

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked, a bit too anxiously for her tastes.

Mikoto leaned against the doorframe, one hand clutching her silk bathrobe tightly around her and the other firmly clasped around a coffee mug. If Kagome spied anything it was that, said mug, had small little pastel handprints on it.

And Kagome was wrestling with which brother they belonged to.

"Taking a shower, I believe," Mikoto said simply.

Naruto couldn't suppress the snicker. Kagome deftly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Is there a reason, why you're here?" Mikoto asked. "My husband is out, Naruto; so there should be no more worries about being arrested after last night…"

"Last night?" Kagome piped. "What happened last night?"

Naruto tousled Kagome's hair and just shifted uneasily on his feet. "Can we see him, Mikoto-kaa-chan? It's about…"

"ANBU," Kagome quickly added.

"Yeah, ANBU."

"Then why do you need to be here, Naruto?" Mikoto queried with a furrow on her brow at the blond _Jounin_.

Naruto groaned, they should have just slipped in like ninja typically do. Leave it to Kagome to actually have some manners (from Kami's only knows where) and want to give Mikoto a good impression.

Naruto blinked.

Since when did it matter if Mikoto liked her or not?

"It's a co-op mission. Sakura needs to be promoted and Naruto needs a stronger mission background for their promising futures within higher ranks. I'm sorry but the rest is classified, you understand."

Mikoto's brow shot up at Kagome's eloquent answer. "Of course," she said but still garnered them with a cagey look before stepping aside. "Breakfast?"

Kagome and Naruto exchanged a look.

"Yes, please," they chimed.

…

Somehow, the scent of fried eggs emanated from his bedroom and Sasuke could only dab behind the ears with a towel to brace himself for the inevitable.

His door opened with an agonizing creak, and Sasuke glowered furiously at the two of them.

On _his _bed.

Eating.

"Nice boxer briefs, Teme."

"Get off," he clipped and fished out a white haori out of his gaping closet.

"I told you, he would be grumpy," Kagome muttered as she sent an unimpressed look to the Uchiha dressing.

Sasuke gave her a long baleful and then promptly tossed his towel at her. Kagome dodged, naturally.

"Oh, c'mon Teme," Naruto crooned with cheeks full and chopsticks now probing Kagome's bowl.

Sasuke remained silent as he fastened his combat pants and slipped his arms through the loose Haori and then began the tedious process of tucking it in.

Naruto growled and Kagome's knuckles ran white around her bowl. "Sasuke," Kagome called in a leveled pitch.

Sasuke proceeded to ignore her as he plucked up a roll of binding and began to wrap his palms.

"We're going to talk about it, whether you like it or not," Kagome said again in that unnerving tone. "Sasuke?"

He was already halfway done with his right forearm by the time Kagome finally snapped and sent a bowl careening towards his skull.

Sasuke dodged, _naturally._

But it still shattered against the wall behind him and left a few shattered pieces in that damnable cowlick of his.

Kagome's face was a paled, hard expression to behold and Naruto was just as tense.

"What is wrong with you?" Naruto snapped, but it was sent directly at the Uchiha (the target) and not at the petulant trigger-happy ANBU.

Sasuke froze and leveled his friend with a look. What was wrong with him? More like what was wrong with them. "Why don't you two go fuck each other and leave me the hell alone."

Kagome whapped her forearm across Naruto's chest to placate him and Sasuke was convinced this was just a ruse and that the Dobe would barrel over her and slam him against the wall for a very well-deserved _discussion_ with their fists…

Instead, Naruto immediately sighed and became utterly still, tense, but _still _nonetheless.

"Just tell her," Naruto grumbled. He hated this awkward knot in his chest. He hated how it was drawing him closer to one yet away from the other…

"There's nothing to tell," Sasuke intoned and he sounded like a corpse speaking.

He was Uchiha Sasuke and he didn't do confessions. He was the recipient of them and he shattered and tossed them away like the useless trash they were.

"_Teme—!"_

"No, Naruto," Kagome said softly. "This is my fault, Sasuke. I should've handled it better…"

And there she went _again_, selflessly falling on her own fucking sword.

Sasuke's closet door slammed shut and he promptly began to walk out. That is, until Kagome was just breaths behind him and her small hand was coiling around his wrist.

He paused, so achingly and all he could feel was a warm spot between his shoulder blades where her forehead rested heavily and her breath radiated from. They stood there, for a long while and Kagome's hand slipped down to his while the other mimicked. It wasn't until their fingers were inexplicably tangled, did she speak and he felt every thrum of her voice resonate through his ribs.

"Remember, during the first night of the mission? We were both alone," she seemed to plead for him to remember.

_Then why even bother with me? If you were so sure, why give me that sword? Train with me and put me through to ANBU? All of that effort for someone who doesn't even give a damn… is a __wasteful __thing to do._

_Because…_

_Sasuke dropped down, crouched with one knee on the ground, he gripped the side of neck. His hand could have curved around the entirety of her slender throat, but all he wanted to do was feel the flutter of her pulse. 'Why sleep with me?'_

_The sudden surge her heart gave at those words made his eyes practically lull, because those words could be used to describe so many__ other__ things._

'_You stayed, we shared a bed.' And that was something extremely intimate between them, whether it was to stem nightmares or to have a warm body next to you, didn't matter. __Now tell me. '__Why?' __Would you do all that?_

_Her eyes glistened and the tears brimmed too quickly. 'Because…I…' Glassy rivulets streamed over lashes and cheeks. 'Because I care for you.'_

"So, why even bother with me, if you're just going to walk away?" Her words were his, shot right back at him and they were inches from his heart, literally.

She felt his shoulders slack, his spine curve as he leaned so slightly into her and then her arms wrapped around his waist and gripped his hipbones. Sasuke felt every thought dissipate into a complacent calm and then everything became so relaxed within—

Until, Kagome undid his zipper.

Then, it became a jarring mind-numbing avalanche of thoughts, possibilities and heartbeats. Sasuke caught her hand.

Kagome froze feeling a lump in her throat and her ears burn. That was a purely impulsive action, right there and it was not to be repeated—

_Bad, bad, stupid, stupid Kagome,_ she berated mentally.

–or carried on further, because Sasuke's grip had turned a tad painful and he swiveled in her awkward embrace easily enough (his girth gave her little reprieve) and then crouched so that their gazes met. "Don't," Sasuke said through locked teeth. "Do that."

Kagome would've wilted on the spot at the blatancy but it was then something unsaid and utterly primal struck her.

Naruto voiced it. "Girls don't make the first move, Kagome-chan," his voice was in her ear and sang beautifully over her raging heartbeat before she felt his arms snake around her ribs and pull her back—

Her butt collided with the floor with a thump and Naruto's legs were on alongside hers as he sat behind her. Kagome's eyes fluttered, it was always so dim within these halls and all she could recognize was a shadow crouching above her.

Kagome reached out and pulled Sasuke in. He fell limply between her knees and she quickly found herself tracing his jaw line and down the column of his throat. His breathing was heavy, audible through his nostrils and his palms were splayed on the wood, next to their knees in this impossible intertwinement.

It was a curious thing; Kagome just tenderly touched his face, innocently exploring the planes of ashen flesh and the sharp cheekbones beneath. The straight, perfectly tipped nose and his solid brow which bore deep set eyes… These were all a marvel to her fingertips. She tilted her head, and raked a single nail down until it coursed over his lips and the sharp incline of his chin. Sasuke's eyes were steady, hazed and focused just below her line of sight. He had thick, utterly black lashes that curtained even darker eyes.

Naruto was utterly still behind her, she knew he was simply leaning back and was riveted to them.

Then Kagome paused—

A horrible revelation struck her to the core.

Why was it, when she looked onto Sasuke she was just filled with such a deep sadness?

It was like being tossed in an ocean; dark emotions swirled and she caught herself frozen at his hairline, where a single tuft of blue-black hair slid between her fingers.

_Hair's too short._

She felt warmth from both of her boys. She was treading on thin ice with both forces utterly still and waiting. She just continued to stare for awhile, settling on the gaping haori until she ventured to part it even further to lay gossamer touches along Sasuke's collarbone.

Kagome let out a gasp when she felt a rough hand cup her cheek and nearly envelope her entire face. She was jerked to look up and Sasuke's pupils were indecipherable from the iris.

Sasuke leaned in—

"I can't," Kagome breathed. _This is wrong._

Sasuke grew utterly still.

She couldn't describe it, but something blossomed, no tore through his chest to stop. It wasn't right, she was just imagining one person with dark eyes, dark hair and…

_Itachi doesn't have rough hands._

The thought was a betrayal.

Kagome felt hot tears stream over her cheeks because all she could ever summon when she looked at Sasuke was a _**comparison **_and guilt bubbled hot in her belly. Kagome felt nauseous. She was sickened with herself as she found herself selfishly between two boys she cared deeply for but couldn't commit herself wholly to.

Kagome was scrambling away from them in a matter of seconds.

"_Kagome—!"_ Naruto was after her.

But she was already out the window, running across the rooftops and to the only person she could think of.

_I can't. I can't. I can't._

It became a mantra, echoing over and over as she followed some unsaid sense. It wasn't until Kagome was at the base of a castle did she finish her thought.

_I can't betray him._

…

Their new residence was appealing to Itachi's palate more and more by the day. The study was agreeable and it gave a crisp view of Kikyo Castle if you decided to let the early morning breeze in from the terrace. Itachi had just organized another box from the Uchiha archives to be brought by one of his subordinates and it was becoming a rather irritable process of carrying on with day to day business without actually utilizing any of his belongings.

Mostly due to the fact that Itachi's belongings were still within the halls of his family's manor and all of his savings had been swiped with the purchase of the new property. Still, his ANBU attire was quite accessible as he always kept a number of articles in the Assassination bureau and his traveling pack held the necessities when hygiene was concerned.

Still, he would have to return to his family's estate lest he forfeit his birthright as heir and Sasuke would be forcibly put into his place.

But at the moment, Itachi set to work on the bureaucracy of ANBU and let the autumn breezes sough through with chilled fingers and maple leaves.

It was a vacant place, save for the few pieces of ancient furniture that came with the penthouse; one being the writing desk, which Itachi deemed as most worthy and another being a large canopy-drawn bed.

It wasn't until a rather sharp wind split through the study and snuffed out his lamp did Itachi look up.

And there, standing in the parted shoji screen with the sun at her back was Kagome.

She was sheathed in black save her pallid face, which was hard as marble with the dull glimmer of sapphire in her eyes.

"What…" She gaped, apparently she simply just followed whatever trail he had left and just found herself here just as much as him. _"—is this place?_

Itachi deftly relit the wick in the basin of wax with a subdued Katon at his fingertips. "This is what I meant to show you, so many days ago."

Kagome was just numbly appraising the grandeur of it all. "This is what you want _me_ to live in?"

He couldn't quite gauge if that was a positive or negative. "Yes."

"And you?" Kagome took a step inside, from the terrace and into his study with a flittering glance to his paperwork. "You look quite settled."

"I am," he replied amicably as he set down his fountain pen.

And then, she was sitting across from him, with forearms laced on top of one another and chin buried beneath. She stared at him a bit owlishly as she leaned heavily on the desk. "I'm sorry…"

Itachi just stared at her. "I cannot imagine what for."

"For not trusting you…and…" Her eyes darted down to the drying ink on his scrolls. "And… I did something terrible."

Again, he was at a loss.

"It's about Sasuke," she muttered. "Apparently he took the betrothal more seriously than anticipated and Naruto somehow goaded us… into something I was not entirely comfortable with."

Itachi stilled. "Which?"

"Which?" Kagome echoed then it dawned on her. Which of them was she uncomfortable with? "Sasuke, of course," she sputtered before she could think and then the same guilt pooled in her gut once more."Wait. How do you know?" she stiffened immediately. How much did Itachi know? Did he actually see her and Naruto? And what about all three of them?

It was beyond embarrassing what she and Naruto had done to Sasuke (ambushing him like that and forcing out a response). It was also downright kinky.

"Sai never ceased his surveillance over Naruto-kun," Itachi intoned levelly and his eyes took on a dangerous glint. Itachi's heavy gaze simply dipped down to his paperwork and gave her reprieve.

Kagome began to halfheartedly dog-ear the corners as she mulled over what happened. "You're not mad, are you?"

Itachi paused once more. "How… could I ever be angry with you?"

Kagome gave a glum shrug and those wind-bitten cheeks flushed all over again and Itachi realized her eyes were not puffy from the chill. "Because… I'm hurting your most important person." Her voice was a quivering bleat when the first tear slipped past her resolve.

She was breaking.

Itachi grew silent for a long moment. "Sasuke…. is an impulsive individual. This is a phase simply drawn on by my interactions with you. It will pass."

Kagome didn't look too convinced. "It's not just that. I made him vulnerable… just to run away and hurt him so he'll never open up to me again. And… I can't even protect him in ANBU anymore, Itachi…" Her head bowed while her eyes became obscured by her bangs. "He's being targeted, and time and time again he's getting hurt and I'm always finding myself too late." She looked up to him finally. "I'm just hurting him. I can't be on a team with him anymore."

"Kagome…" Her name rolled over his tongue. "There is no one I feel more comfortable with my brother's life than you."

"Don't you see!" Kagome slammed the table with her fist. "I can't. I simply _can't_. You're not there. You don't see the way he acts around me and only me. It's absolutely suffocating to be the first and only infatuation of Uchiha Sasuke and I can't. _I can't do it!"_

Then, oh simply, Itachi asked, "why?"

Kagome blanched. "W-What?"

"Why can't you?" Itachi reiterated heatedly. "You care for him."

Kagome swallowed and the taste in her mouth was bitter. "Because… it feels like a betrayal." She swallowed hard. "I feel like I'm betraying you and my body just seizes up…" Kagome hung her head low remembering how Sasuke had just for a split moment opened up and leaned forward…

"And Naruto?"

Kagome's head jerked up. "What about him?" she snapped.

"Is it not just as a betrayal to me to be with him?"

Those words were like ice-water thrown in her face, but she felt a heat rise up in its stead. "Not when all I can think about with Sasuke is how short his hair is!" she hissed and then completely hid her face in a pout. When she was with Naruto, he was Naruto. When she was with Sasuke, he was Itachi's little brother. "I'm a _horrible_ _horrible horrible_ person." She was comparing one brother to another.

And Kagome felt the most electrifying sense crawl over her as Itachi's silent movements made their way to her and around her. Kagome just let out a whimper and completely collapsed in his chest. He was wearing his ANBU uniform and it smelled like wood smoke. She couldn't repress the sigh of pleasure and heart wrenching yearning as she buried her face deeper and deeper into the fabric to feel his warmth and to hear his pulse.

Oh god, how she had missed him.

She felt his long fingers rake over her scalp, down her neck and then pause.

Itachi froze in his movements.

Kagome immediately clapped a hand around her throat, where her turtleneck had been coaxed downward. "It's nothing," she murmured.

But she knew what he saw, a mark of teeth, the split of skin, purple-green clouds undulating beneath…

"You let him do this to you?" Itachi said and his voice was so close to her ears it sent her heart fluttering.

Kagome was silent for a long moment, her hand was still clutched over the mark as she closed her eyes and focused on it. In her mind's eye, it was dabbed away like mountains under the ocean's unrelenting tides and soon, it was.

Itachi only could watch as her small hand released the once marred flesh and revealed seamless milky white skin.

Kagome glanced up and she rested her chin in the crook of his neck. "I'm getting better," she said so softly to him. Kagome moved to her knees and sat before him, with arms draped around his neck and hands running through his hair. It felt like silk running through her fingers. "So don't worry about me or Naruto. We're fine. I have everything under control…" she reassured and her head seem to lull at his scent. "Sasuke on the other hand—"

"Is something you don't need to concern yourself with, any longer," Itachi spoke so beautifully and his voice resonated through her.

And for the moment, Kagome would believe this.

She didn't waste precious seconds with stroking his knife-blade cheekbones or tracing the soft indents under his eyes. Kagome just looped both legs over Itachi's bowed thighs and loosely straddled him. Kagome's breath caught when she felt Itachi's grip turn to stone around her waist and all she could do was lean in because she was trapped within a cage.

With a bit of hesitancy because this was a monumental moment for the both of them, Kagome sucked in a sharp breath before Itachi met her halfway.

His lips were delightfully _chapped._

Like the calluses on his hands, they were nothing but a smooth wear of his profession and the grace that he executed it with. He was a prodigy and there were no nicks on his hands or pitted scars along his ribs. Just fine silvery lines from the splintered wood of a target during practice, or stray shards of whatever he may of shattered and whether they may be swords or masks of other nin, every scar was not a mistake, just an inevitability.

She was lost in the perfections of his body, as she sank closer into him and Itachi finally moved beyond the light brush of lips to a more full-hearted gesture.

It was so still, _so quiet_ as she could barely detect a single breath from him. She breathed voraciously through her nostrils. Itachi was such a slow, agonizingly patient kisser. When she moved her lips, he met hers in such a fluid motion that she swore she would suffocate at his pace. Or maybe it she was far too anxious? Just as Naruto was with her, she seemed clumsy and all too eager.

But at this exact moment, when all she could do was stay here entrapped with Itachi's grip…

She really could give a flying fuck.

Kagome felt her hands devilishly untying his nape and entangling themselves. She broke away first, barely and Itachi's head jerked forward at the sudden breakaway. "Itachi…" she breathed a sweet lungful, knowing she was about to dive in again. She bit slightly at his lower lip and she felt him lean heavily into her, the tip of his nose dipping into her bridge. She didn't want to have to voice it, so just continued the soft nips until he finally conceded and opened his mouth.

It was such an innocent thing, she kissed hesitantly finding it becoming more and more wet and awkward and…

This was kind of gross, now that she thought about it.

Itachi's tongue forcibly entered and met hers and the heat and the sound was just so raw and primal—

All thoughts were promptly dashed.

Kagome let out a throaty moan and felt her hands twist in his hair.

Then, so unlike her earlier experiences that morning, she was not just complacent, she wanted _more._

But Uchiha Itachi was no man of little experience and that thought was sobering.

She broke away again, this time fully and she leaned back, her butt on his knees. "How many women have you slept with?"

There was a fog quickly fading from his half-lidded gaze at her question.

"Or men," Kagome squeaked.

Itachi just stared and she was sure somewhere deep down in those depths was bewilderment.

Then he answered, with a question, unsurprisingly. "Do you really wish to know?"

Kagome deliberated this for a moment but then nodded sincerely. "Yes."

"I did not sleep with all of them," Itachi said quietly to her. "And they were women," he added. "All of them."

She didn't need to be convinced of his sexual orientation, that was the least of her worries. Kagome swallowed thickly. "So… these women you just let them—"

"If you want details all you have to do is ask," Itachi tilted his head but he was quite serious, after all Uchiha Itachi could be brutally honest or blunt when need be.

"Um, no. I get it," Kagome said weakly, head slightly bowed as she slouched horribly in his grip.

"Nine."

Every muscle in Kagome's lithe little body snapped tight. "What?"

"Thirteen total. The other four were out of consequence due to lack of contraceptives."

_Thirteen?_ Kagome thought frantically then felt something curl in her gut viciously. "So nine of them you fucked and the other four you let suck you off?" Kagome spat. She was in ANBU she knew quite a bit about seduction and a shinobi of Itachi's caliber was never supposed to let a woman get him so vulnerable. Not only did he sleep with them, but he compromised his safety. "You idiot!"

Itachi didn't flinch at her crudeness but his eyes simply pooled to sharp indifference. "Your anger is purely natural."

Kagome's mind raced. Did he know their names? What did they look like? Were they short? How large were their breasts? Were they prostitutes or kunoichi ? Or were they simply civilian? Did they live in Konoha? Was it anyone she knew? Had he killed any of them? "How old was the youngest?" Kagome snapped.

"Twenty-three."

That was far more terrifying than one of them being younger than her because it meant they were all older than him…

Was Itachi only attracted to older, more experienced_ women_?

Not petulant, gangly little girls. "Oh," she breathed felt a nice constricting blanket of insecurity snuff out any brazenness she had earlier. "Did you ever go to one more than once?" She was just chockfull of excruciating questions today.

Itachi gave a shrug and her hands slipped from his shoulders. "Occasionally."

_Oh my god_, Kagome's brain screamed. They weren't just one-night stands, they were lovers! "When was the last time?" Kagome demanded.

Itachi mulled on this. "It has been quite some time…"

She felt the tiniest sighs of relief pass over her lips.

"A month."

All relief hardened to stone-cold tenseness. That wasn't long at all! "You mean you had sex with another woman while you knew me…" Kagome gaped.

Itachi quickly went back to his musings. "That is not correct. I met you shortly after I broke ties with Yoko-san."

_Who the hell is Yoko? _Kagome nearly reeled. "W-Who?" she choked out.

"Yoko. A prostitute from Bird Country. We had an agreement for a time."

Leave it to Uchiha Itachi to make sex with a whore sound like a business transaction. Hell, he probably didn't even have to pay.

Kagome groaned and slammed her head exasperatedly into Itachi's collarbone with a _thump._ "I just can't handle you sometimes."

"I find myself in the exact same circumstances," Itachi quipped.

Was that bemusement in his voice? Because if it was, she was either one: going to kick him in the groin or two: cry.

The prospect of both happening instantaneously was highly plausible at this point. "I can't believe you slept with thirteen—"

"Nine."

"Whatever, you did basically the same thing," Kagome snapped. "How old were you?"

"For what?" Itachi raised a brow, she was never going to relent now.

"You know, how old were you when you lost_ it_?" Kagome gave him a long baleful look.

"If by _it_, you mean my virginity? Thirteen."

Kagome blanched. "I turn thirteen this spring!" This number was sure to haunt her now…

"And I assure your chastity will be intact."

Kagome crossed her arms. "Not at the rate things are going now…"

Itachi stilled and said nothing.

Kagome shrunk against him. "Sorry…"

Of all the horribly awkward questions and verbal jabs, that one was low.

Kagome let out a long sigh against him and sank even further into Itachi's chest. "Okay, I'll stop being a nag now," she said and her voice was muffled by fabric. "I'm just heavily insecure."

"Hn," she felt him grunt and it was a kind of gesture that promised she wasn't.

Just overprotective, they both were.

"You want to show me the rest of this place?" She looked up, stormy grey-blue eyes wide and seeing him. He wasn't perfect.

But by no means, was he not dedicated and she never had to question his loyalty or make him swear to be. She trusted him.

"Of course," he promised and scooped her up to carry her over the threshold of their new home.

Kagome squeaked.

For a moment, things were okay.

…

Yoshino answered the door when they came.

Shikaku remained planted in the sitting room. He had been waiting for them, after all.

Murmurs could be heard down the halls, and Shikaku watched the sun drift across the floorboards as only one entered and the rest waited outside his estate. Yoshino trickled in after him, offered tea, was promptly declined and then lead him to where Shikaku was. She left the clan patriarchs without a word.

Uchiha Fugaku entered, face contorted into a permanent scowl and the crest of the Uchiha clan blazed on the badge of Konoha's Military Police Force. He sat diplomatically across from the Nara, eyes sharp and his premeditated words ready to tumble forth.

"I already know why you're here, Fugaku," Shikaku intoned, the scars on his brow twisting.

"I have no doubt that you do," Fugaku said evenly. "However I have no intention of blackmailing, as I am sure Hatake Kakashi has conveyed to you."

A strip of sunlight separated them, dust tossed and glittered and Fugaku's face was shadowed and Shikaku's, scarred.

"Get on with it," Shikaku grunted. He hated this façade of diplomacy, and his eyes wandered past the shoji screens and listened to magpies scuttle outside on the veranda. "Why do you want my adoptive daughter betrothed to your son?"

A glint caught in Fugaku's dark eyes. "History," he answered simply. "Her history is intertwined with my Clan's."

"Kagome has no history," Shikaku rebutted.

"That we are aware of. My Clan has archives spanning back centuries, to its _very_ founding. There are references to old bloodlines, ones that have been lost, they are vague at best, but I have reason to believe that your adoptive daughter is an heir to one of these lost bloodlines."

Shikaku rose a brow. "Is that it?"

Fugaku's grimace steeped even further. "There are certain… shinobi that are born once every generation or so. They are rare, regarded for their skill—"

Shikaku cut him off. "If you're speaking of Konoha's impressive list of prodigies, then yes, Kagome is among those."

"Do you truly believe that every prodigy born is luck of the draw, Shikaku? That my son, possibly the greatest shinobi ever to be seen was a timely conception?"

"Yes," Shikaku said. "Just as luck would have it that a demon came rampaging upon our village nearly sixteen years ago or that I found my adoptive daughter in a well. We can all be blessed or cursed on fate's whim and I do not believe whatsoever that your son's birth was divine intervention."

The Uchiha Patriarch seemed a bit ruffled at how easily the Nara dismissed his son. "I see, however the fact remains that every prodigy born to Konoha is by no way a chance occurrence but a child of direct descent of one of these lost bloodlines. My son is the pureblooded reincarnation of our ancestor."

"And which ancestor would this be?" Shikaku swallowed thickly.

"Why, none other than the elder son of the Rikudo Sennin, the Sage of the Six Paths himself."

"How can you be so sure of this, Fugaku?" Shikaku crossed his arms. "This information, _these archives_ of yours may seem extensive…" But his words resembled a farfetched fairytale rather than a historical record.

"We have old tablets, Shikaku," Fugaku said. "I can say no more lest I break the vows I took when I became Clan Head."

Shikaku nodded. "Of course, but I have yet to hear why I would allow the betrothal."

"History is information, Shikaku and I have access to it all," Fugaku's eyes darted to the abandoned shogi game on the veranda. "You must understand that your adoptive daughter is a gift to us and like many things she will fester with disuse. You must wonder things, Shikaku. Why she never falls ill? How did she survive such terrible wounds? Is the reason she is so unhappy because she has no family? _Or is it me? Have I failed her?_"

"Get out of my house," Shikaku stood, and glared down at the Uchiha patriarch.

Fugaku stood erect and smirked haughtily. "Understand this, Shikaku... until she is a part of my Clan, I will offer no assistance."

"Get out," Shikaku snapped and his voice resonated heavily on wood.

Uchiha Fugaku took his leave, lingered by the doorway and said, "She will get worse, Shikaku."

_She is by no means invincible, even prodigies die… _

* * *

**Author's Note:** And NO, there will be _NO_ lemons (sex) while Kagome is twelve. (Take this as a tinsy spoiler)

**Chapter Twenty Five Summary**: In which Itachi is molested and Kagome does not come down from her 'castle' for three days. Many things happen, as relationships fester, schisms are carved out and Team Seven is seemingly falling apart at the seams at the expense of one little prodigy's tryst…

_Update Schedule_

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **March 9**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **March 23**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **April 20 **Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **May 18**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	25. Three Days Without Sun

**Author's Note:** I do so love writing Itachi and Kagome together. Their interactions are just so adorable and they literally write themselves.

**Warnings:** _Child Abuse, Language, Gore/Violence, Sexual/Adult Situations, Suicidal and other disturbing themes. (For this chapter, Kagome's fixation with Itachi's bellybutton)_

_**Rating:**_ Mature

_**Pairings:**_ Itachi/Kagome, Sasuke/Kagome, Naruto/Kagome, Shisui/Sakura, Shikamaru/Temari

_**Ages:**_

Kakashi: 30

Shisui: 23

Itachi: 20

Neji, Lee, TenTen: 17

Sasuke & Sakura: 16

Naruto: 15

Kagome: 12

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Five~**

Three Days Without Sun

* * *

_Be still, please_

_I'm still trying to find a heart_

_To call my own._

_Yours will make up for the both of us. _

* * *

The master bedroom had three windows for walls, each giving a crisp view of the atrium. The fourth held a shoji screen. The only scrap of furniture was a massive, ancient wood-carved bed that was inlayed with seashells for intricate floral designs and a bare framework that hung above with no curtains to speak of for the canopy. The only lighting, save for the green glow of the atrium was a cluster of squat malformed candles on the floor and a rusty candelabra.

Then, off to the corner, were three shoved boxes that contained every article of Higurashi Kagome's life.

Save for the comforter on the massive bed, or the clothes on her back.

Which were slowly peeling off, one by one.

All Kagome heard was the rustle of fabric and her labored breaths. She felt like a giant ogre who was about to clumsily defile a prestigious clan's heir.

To which, said heir, would heartily agree that this was partly true because said ogre couldn't figure out how to undo his pants.

Kagome stopped, heaved a very loud sigh and sat back with her threadbare comforter over her head and Itachi from the waist down, like a tent. "This is a problem," she mused as she stroked her chin.

And Itachi was not, by any means, helping.

He found it quite amusing and was content to simply lay back on the mattress with arms crossed behind his head and watch the little lump under the sheet grunt and groan and prod at his loins. "I assure your ventures are futile."

Kagome poked out from under her popup tent and glared voraciously at him. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Do you realize sex without consent is rape?"

"Who said anything about…" Kagome wrinkled her nose. _"That."_

"Therein lays the problem, Kagome. We _are_ not talking about it."

_Again with the logic_. He was just making this harder on them both. Couldn't he just get with the program so she didn't have to explain her horribly embarrassing feelings that she liked more than one boy?

Kagome rolled her eyes and threw herself across his stomach. "I am so done talking, about _everything_." Splayed across, she then got a fiendish glint in her eyes as she let her fingers creep under his shirt and rake across the indentations of ribs and muscle.

"Do you even have the faintest idea on what you are doing?" Itachi asked, his bemusement slowly fading into a sobering reality.

"Nope. Not even the faintest," Kagome smirked and she hiked up his shirt to reveal—

Uchiha Itachi's bellybutton.

"I knew you had inny."

"Kagome…"

Said ANBU was about to gag said heir, because one: he made her feel like a lecher, two: he making fun of her and three: she was about to bite off his bellybutton.

And screams wouldn't be favorable.

"I'm just having fun and you have about as much appeal as a corpse with the way you lay here all stiff," Kagome mumbled as she propped an elbow onto his hip and stared at him flatly.

"I am not helping you instigate something you may regret."

"Oh, don't play innocent now," Kagome poked said bellybutton and like everything else on Itachi, she found it fixating. How could someone have such a perfectly shaped bellybutton?

He caught her wrist. "I am not playing innocent," he said in that utterly even and measured tone. "There are certain aspects of this lifestyle that you are overlooking."

"And those are?" Kagome drawled.

"I am still bound to my clan, in more ways than one. I have to maintain a residence within my family's manor to keep my birthright as heir."

Or Sasuke would be thrown to the wolves and become his replacement.

This meant, although he was on the outs with his father at the moment and his absence was deemed acceptable until things cooled down he couldn't spend every night here.

Kagome swallowed thickly. "That's fine. I am still living with Naruto after all."

Itachi's aura settled into a dark mood that was nearly suffocating.

"So, for now, let's just live in the moment," Kagome whispered as she crawled over and straddled his stomach and laid across his chest until the tip of her nose was poking his chin. "Because in this moment, I'm yours and you're mine." And she did a breathy kiss along his jaw line.

Only to be met by a crushing force of his lips as he suddenly sprang up and there was strong urgency about him. Kagome gasped and she was thrown onto her back. Itachi was between her legs, moving and yet still and all she could do was awkwardly grope his skull for his unbound nape and let it slide through her fingers.

Itachi was terrifyingly dominant when he actually put forth some effort.

He didn't coax her lips to part; he wrenched them open and raked his tongue into the yawning cavern of her mouth hungrily. Kagome let out a grunt in frustration, which dragged out into more of a pitiful whimper as she fisted his hair. It was then, it dawned on her.

Itachi was no awkward virgin or emotionally repressed teenager like Naruto or Sasuke.

And whatever Itachi did, he did well.

Kagome nearly yipped when she felt his hand stuff down her pant leg, cup her butt and give a light squeeze.

Kagome stilled, oddly pleasurable but she hadn't thought of it. How did he get her pants undone so fast? Last she checked they were of the same brand and make.

Kagome's breathing was erratic and she couldn't maintain anything without coming up gasping. "_Nnh_, Itachi," she barely got out as she felt his tongue leave heated wet circles on her throat and his hand kneading her ass. "Just… do it or take them off."

Kagome felt a chill on her legs as her pants quite literally flew across the room, leaving her in black skintight shorts and chest bindings. Kagome froze, feeling the surge of thoughts bombard her again. He'd beyond this point with every other woman, whatever he did would be worthless and no way special to her.

Itachi paused as well as simply hovered above, breath hot on the slight swell of her breasts.

"Itachi?" she asked, voice clear and pure as glass.

His forehead rested heavily on her sternum and she rested her chin on the top of his head. She wrapped her arms possessively around him.

"What have you never done with a woman?"

It was then Kagome numbly watched the ceiling as the man pinned over her shuffled with the fabric with a few jerky movements.

It wasn't until she heart the clink of a metal fastening on wood did Kagome realize that his pants were on the floor. She tossed her head to the side and looked at the floor.

Apparently Sasuke wasn't the only to wear boxer briefs in the family.

That was when Kagome saw his shoulder blades jut and bow beneath his shirt as he pulled it off and over the beautiful array of muscled ribs.

Kagome felt the initial heat rise to her cheeks times a thousand but it didn't overcome the beautiful song of bare skin on bare skin and how this was what true vulnerability meant to a shinobi.

Still, despite the earth shattering gesture, Kagome couldn't quite squelch the tiny little though that screamed: _Uchiha Itachi is naked._

Then an inexplicable paralysis washed over Kagome.

"Kagome…?" Itachi's voice was so far away, and it was partly due to that incessant ringing.

She felt something stream down from her nose and Itachi curiously dab at her wet nostrils with the slightest of touches. A thin flame of heat flooded under her skin and she felt her skin become damp.

"Kagome, you have a nosebleed," Itachi leveled her with a look showing his stained fingertips like it was her fault.

And that's precisely when the shoji screen burst open.

"_**Sur-prise!"-**_

"Shisui?" she choked in mortification.

And from the very depths of her vocal chords, Kagome screeched.

Itachi promptly dislodged himself from her, which Kagome gave the strangest noise at and then in a gust of movements, was gone.

Down the hall, a door slammed and quaked the walls.

Shisui shuffled awkwardly on his feet. "Uh, hi."

Kagome curled in a little ball and gathered the comforter tightly around her.

Shisui rose a brow, then smirked. "You got to first base, didn't you?"

Kagome's eyes narrowed as one would onto the corpse they had just killed.

Shisui watched as her cheeks reddened to a new height of color and how she had viciously tucked her bottom away into the comforter. He then spotted the tiny black shorts on the floor."Oh my god, you got to second…" Or was it third? Somewhere in between maybe?

Kagome sent a long glance to the bathroom door, her face was now a flaming fuchsia. Kagome hopped off the bed when she realized what Itachi might be doing in there and walked swiftly (while hitting Shisui on the shoulder, of course) out of the bedroom.

"_Hey chibs,"_ Shisui disembodied voice called down the hall.

"_Not talking about it,"_ she called back.

Shisui flickered in front of her when she rounded into the cooking area. Albeit outdated and not as opulent as the rest of the house but it was a quaint place, if a bit dreary. It had a tucked away dining area, with a slanted ceiling giving way to a very welcome, but still small, window. The light was murky and wan from autumn, yet it plaited across the floorboards in ochre strips.

Shisui leered and held up her shorts with two fingers. "Missing something?"

She snatched them. "You are way too comfortable with this."

"Me? Sex is a part of life," Shisui drawled as he stalked into the kitchen.

"We were not having sex!"

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that considering you have clothes."

Kagome fumed, then felt like she was going to pass out again if she thought about what Itachi was doing, right now, at this exact moment just a few doors down.

"Stop thinking about it, you little hentai," Shisui sneered as he yanked open the fridge.

While Shisui searched their rather barren food stores, Kagome yanked up her shorts and folded the comforter. She placed it on a low table with a shallow breath. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore…"

Shisui spied her a glance as he took a carton of milk and drank from it. Apparently Itachi had been doing some light grocery shopping. "You want my opinion?"

"No."

"This is way too soon."

Kagome stiffened and then promptly snapped. "You were the one who wanted us to get married!"

"Yeah, when you're _older._ Not when you're fucking twelve and he's jacking off to you!"

Kagome's face contorted as she chewed angrily on the inside of her cheek.

Shisui tossed the empty carton and stomped over to her. "What's happening? You wouldn't push it so far for no reason."

Kagome's lip quivered as Shisui loomed over her. "I just feel… like if I don't do this, then he'll run off with some other more experienced woman."

Shisui shook his head with a violent curse. "He told you didn't he?"

Kagome nodded. "_Thirteen_, Shisui. Some more than once."

"Yeah, I know," Shisui clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I'm usually in the other room."

Kagome disgustedly displaced Shisui's off her shoulder. "You're a beast."

"Heh, not the first time_—ow,_ okay I get it. No need to hit."

"Why are you here?" Kagome asked pointedly as she cranked the sink running and filled a glass.

"Swung by the compound and caught Hatake laying into Naruto and Sasuke. He seemed pissed. Or at least from what I could tell from under that mask."

Kagome shrugged and brought the glass rim to her lips. "Pakkun has been trailing me, he knows just as much as Itachi with Sai."

"Yeah, speaking of that. Itachi hasn't said anything to you about dry humping with Whiskers, has he?" Shisui leaned against the counter across and began to fiddle with the gaslight.

Kagome sipped broodingly. "Why?"

"Dunno, let's just say it's probably your safest bet to choose _one _and stick with it."

"Are you implying I'm a polygamist?" Kagome deadpanned.

"No, I would never imply—but I would accuse," Shisui huffed and crossed his arms at her.

"It's none of your business," Kagome snubbed as she swallow a mouthful of water.

"Um, it is my fucking business when you're screwing around with my peoples' people!"

"What?"

"First off, Itachi and Sasuke are my cousins. More like brothers to me, and they're the only family I consider genuine. Second, if Sakura knew what you were doing with her two teammates, do you know how hurt she would be? You're like a little sister to her!"

Kagome bit her lip and then refilled her glass. "It's private," she grit out, knuckles white against the counter's edge. "It's nobody's business but ours."

Shisui's face went stiff. "What? You think you can have your little harem and everyone is going to be okay with it? What about when you want to have kids? Junior's gonna wonder why he has three daddies, if not more at the rate things are going now… " Shisui grumbled. "It's not natural."

Glass shattered in Kagome's hand and fell to the floor with bloody clinks.

Shisui didn't flinch or swarm over her like the so many overprotective people in her life.

"You think I don't know that…" She just kept on a steady gaze before deftly plucking out the little shard out of her palm and letting them fall into the sink, one by one. "There's no future in this, there's never been a future for any of us."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shisui snapped.

Kagome folded her palm, split flesh and blood trickled down her wrist. She was silent when she reopened it, like a blooming flower, the skin was smooth and bloodless. "This is not natural and it comes with a cost."

Shisui felt his vision blur. "What cost?"

Kagome's head bowed. "There's something inside of me, like how Jinchuuriki heal fast but the demon eats away at the mind? I have a power, Shisui. You know this. You've seen it and its price…" she swallowed thickly.

_Your heart stopped_, Neji had said to her. _Not only did your heart cease for a moment, Kagome-sama, but your signature vanished. The air, the natural energies shifted, stilled… for but a moment._

Something unnatural had awakened, once dormant in her bones it was now crying out and scraping her dry.

_I think I'm dying_, she had said back.

She would soon be a hapless shell with a skeleton brittle and hollow like a bird's.

_And, in a way, she was._

Except, it wasn't marrow and it went deeper than her bones.

"Its price is my soul."

…

Three days passed until Kagome had finally worked up the courage to sneak off to the market. Being unable to endure another round of takeout or go without completely, due to both prodigy's finickiness. Naturally, Shisui came along despite his obvious disposition that he could barely stand her.

Which was fine; considering Kagome could still pawn off the bag carrying duties to him.

Shisui kept on his front of indifference towards Kagome. He wasn't cold, but he wasn't coddling her either. He grumbled a few times, to which Itachi usually silenced with a pointed look and Shisui relented easily enough. Kagome had a feeling his growing resentment towards her would be uncontrollable if she hadn't snapped on him about her unknown powers and what they cost her.

She knew Shisui hated her cowardice. She refused to come down from her and Itachi's abode and Shisui never disobeyed Itachi by relaying her location to Sasuke or Naruto.

However, he did relay every detail of _their_ lives to Kagome.

So, as he helped her unpack groceries, he did just that.

"So yeah, Pinky's worried about Whiskers. He's just stares at his ramen like its mud and anyone who tries to console him gets their fingers snapped off," Shisui announced as he shelved the peanut butter. He hopped onto the counter and juggled some cans. "Ew, green beans… And the Hyuuga has gone off solo. He's training with other ANBU quite a lot now."

Kagome grit her teeth as she chucked oranges into the fruit bowl.

"And Brat has been avoiding Whiskers too, ever since that huge fight yesterday, he's been with that bastard Hatake. They're working on some new jutsu, something to do with harnessing natural lightning."

Kagome plopped the bananas down like they burned. That had been her idea…

"At least that what Pinky thinks. She doesn't know and she doesn't really ask. She's just been healing their muscles a lot. You know they're all twitchy all the time."

"And Sai?" Kagome spoke for the first time in hours.

"Still following Whiskers, he had to knock him unconscious when Brat nearly lost an arm."

Kagome winced. "What did they fight about this time?"

"Well, Whiskers just busted out screaming about how I was he going to disembowel Itachi and Brat kind of lost it. I don't really know what they were arguing about after that, but they haven't spoken since," Shisui took a bite of an apple. "Jiraiya has been training with him a lot, but he's still getting aggressive towards everyone… Except for that Hyuuga girl."

Kagome didn't respond after that, knowing that her and Itachi's time was coming to a swift close. This was oddly fine by her, because after Shisui's little bombardment she hadn't really worked up the stomach to instigate anything else and all they did at night was hold one another.

The three days spent together went by in a blur, she busied herself tidying and moving in which was quite swift with the lack of furniture. Her monthly stipend and the paycheque from her last mission constituted for fresh linens, groceries and the hefty utilities of the penthouse but once that was done, she was just as broke as Itachi.

Itachi was preoccupied most of the time. She understood, but it still made her uneasy about the future, or lack thereof, as the only time she saw him was when they were asleep. He was either locked away in the study during the evenings or away with ANBU affairs all other times. It was hardest when she awoke in the morning to an empty bed.

On the fourth morning, Kagome just stared at the ceiling mulling over how each second she lingered here was another more her relationships with everyone else deteriorated. Light slipped past in pale wisps and it was bitterly cold when no one was here.

Another hour of wallowing in gut wrenching guilt passed until Kagome finally made her way to the oblong dresser Shisui had dragged from some thrift shop. Even with all her belongings neatly stowed away, it still was a barren sight when she finally yanked the stiff drawer ajar.

_Oh joy, _she thought glumly. Her attire was completely monotone as it appeared she was attending a funeral every day for the next year or so. She dressed prim, with a fleece zipped up to the neck and combat pants that rimmed her ankles.

Kagome turned. It was never a sound or the pulling sense of chakra that alerted her, just the intuition of his presence. "You're back."

Itachi stood, fingers clasped to the latticework of the shoji screen. "How long have you been up?"

Kagome shrugged. "Awhile, but I just managed to get out of bed."

Itachi remained silent and Kagome just stared at him expectantly.

"You look tired," she said finally. He was working too hard, she could see it in the hollows beneath his eyes and in his ribs that became more prominent each day.

Itachi's lips drew into a straight line. "There is a clan meeting tonight."

She felt her blood run cold. "I see."

"My absence cannot be afforded."

Kagome's head bowed. "I know."

"Kagome…" Itachi just breathed her name, but her stare remained riveted to her toes and the swirling wood-knots. "I apologize for… lately…"

"Don't." Kagome looked up. "Don't be sorry. I know how hard you work, so don't waste anymore energy on guilt."

There was a definite relief but it was a brief sigh. "I know none of this has reached your expectations…"

Kagome was already before him and soft hand on his chest. Fingers curled on the damp cloth of his uniform, he'd been training. "Itachi, stop thinking of me as some pining little girl and realize that maybe I'm actually happy to be here with you… no matter how limited a time that may be."

"You are not disappointed, then?" A raised brow, along with a glint shone of bemusement in those eyes.

Kagome shrugged. "Maybe a little." A smirk tugged on her lips.

"And what can I possibly do to remedy this?" He took a step forward and their proximity was suffocating.

Kagome felt his hand splay across her ribs, curling around and nearly encompassing her tiny frame. Kagome let out a fluttering breath as his fingers rested tightly beneath her breasts. "Umm…" She placed a stemming hand on his and Itachi paused immediately. "Could we… do something?" She swallowed. "Because I just got out of bed and the last thing I want to do is go back in it."

"What do you have in mind?" he asked and his voice was like velvet.

"I don't know, we could go out to eat… maybe?" She cringed as if she had suggested to murder a dozen puppies as if it were a guilty pleasure of hers.

"Kagome." He crossed his arms and his face softened considerably. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

Kagome's cheeks bloomed red. "Well, I mean ,it doesn't have to be called that… I don't know! Don't you have any hobbies?"

"Shinobi don't have hobbies, Kagome."

Kagome's head hung low. That's what they were, nothing else. Any other activities would be a distraction. At least as far as ANBU was concerned. "Yeah, me neither…" It was then a thought trickled down to a realization. "Oh, I know."

"Hm?" He raised a brow at her.

"I want to spar."

…

Sakura fiddled with the butter-yellow petals of lupins with a speculative eye and pursed lips. Shisui sighed audibly as he craned his arm even farther with an umbrella to accompany the crouched kunoichi who was studying the floral stalks like prey.

Sakura was wearing that god-awful green raincoat again and Shisui didn't appreciate how it squeaked at her tiniest movements or the fact that it had daisy shaped buttons.

"You almost done?" Shisui complained as he stared at the ever growing puddles at their feet.

But Sakura remained fixated on the flower cart. "Don't you think these prices are a little outrageous?"

"It's almost winter," Shisui deadpanned. "Imported products from below the equator are always _outrageously _priced."

"Huh." Sakura's spine straightened as she stood. "Well I guess it's a good thing you're buying them then, right?"

Shisui let out his umpteenth sigh of the day. "How much?" He began to shuffle in his pockets with his freehand while the little pink-head bounced on the balls of her feet expectantly and with a cheeky grin.

"Um, three hundred _ryo_?"

"_What?_ How many do you want?" Shisui hastily demanded.

Sakura promptly picked up the entire tub.

"_Women,"_ Shisui groaned, hung his head and then held out a crumpled handful of currency. "Why on earth do you need that many goddamn flowers?"

Sakura shrugged. "To brag to Ino." And she certainly couldn't do that if she had stopped by the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Why?"

"Because they_ are_ from you," Sakura quipped, twirled on her heel and diplomatically bartered down the price with a crotchety old florist. She handed him the change and proudly hugged the paper wrapped bouquet. _"Thank you!"_

"Uh… yeah, you're welcome." Shisui just shuffled awkwardly on his feet before shielding her pretty pink head from the drizzle. "You want to go eat now?"

"_Yep!"_ Sakura dug into her little knapsack revealed two brown paper bags. "I made lunch so we could have a picnic."

Shisui shot Sakura a flat look as the rainfall increased and she huddled closer, arms full. "Yeah, because the weather is just peachy."

Sakura wilted. "We could… find a bench?"

Shisui shrugged. "Whatever Pinky, c'mon." And he drudged up enough energy to amble on down the muggy stalls of Konoha's downtown.

It wasn't until the near constant drizzle turned to a steady downpour that Shisui opted for a rain check on the picnic and seek refuge in a gritty little teahouse.

Sakura's shed her raincoat and curled chilled fingers around her steaming mug. Shisui begrudgingly minded the slightly damp lupins.

"You're upset," Sakura observed before sipping greedily.

"Why wouldn't I be upset?" Shisui spat and felt like hitting something, preferably something squishy.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Why did all the men in her life have such uncontrollable tempers? "What did she do now?"

Shisui grit his teeth and set down his tea with an audible _clap._ "Last night after dinner, I went to go see them again… she barely said a word to me, just asked me about you and acted like Whiskers and Brat never fought."

"She feels guilt," Sakura murmured as she stroked the rim of her cup. Naruto and Sasuke were avoiding each other like the plague and even regarded her a bit more indifferently now, especially since she spent more and more time with Shisui.

"No, she's petrified to face either of them," Shisui crossed his arms and glared horridly at the vapor. "Plus she's too caught up in this tryst she has with Itachi. It's not fair. She's stringing everyone along."

"Tryst?" Sakura raised a pink brow. "Is it really that serious?" As far as she knew, or could pry out of Shisui, Kagome was in an undisclosed location after a rather awkward confession on Sasuke's part. Which Naruto instigated, on some perverse level that she couldn't even begin to grasp, and Sasuke went through with it.

And that's when the schism had begun and Kagome had bolted.

_They expect too much of her_, Sakura mused as she watched the amber liquid in her mug curl with bits of tealeaves. _That's why she left all of you, because Itachi expects nothing of her and let's her be free._

'_No matter what, don't doubt us. You have a home now and all I want for you is to promise you'll always come back.'_

'_Okay.'_

"She'll come back," Sakura stated firmly. _She promised._

Shisui snorted. "You have no idea what they're doing up in that castle, do you?"

"Castle?" Sakura echoed.

"Shit, you weren't supposed to hear that."

"Oh my god…" Sakura stiffened as the realization washed over. "_Oh my god—_Itachi _bought _Kikyo castle?"

Shisui blinked furiously. "What? No, no, just the top level of a tower. Which is still pretty big, let me tell you—"

"You mean a penthouse," Sakura said dryly. "Kagome and Itachi eloped to a penthouse." She slapped a palm on her forehead. "How… how utterly cliché! This is like out of soap opera. Itachi does realize this is illegal right?"

"Living together I believe is quite legal…"

"No, beyond the obvious… fraternization among Captains is highly looked down upon. They both could get into a lot trouble and Kagome being underage is not helping _at all_."

"You think they don't know that!" Shisui ran a palm heatedly over his face. "That's the problem, Itachi doesn't care and he's the one who will actually get into trouble."

Sakura deflated. "Well, Kagome-chan knows she has to come down from there eventually…" Kagome was biding her time, savoring what little time she had before she had to face Sasuke or Naruto. "Right?"

"Not if Itachi can help it…"

Sakura just sighed sadly and stared into the floating tealeaves. "I don't know how she can stand it… being cooped up in a place with Uchiha Itachi. It's not like he has a ton of free time for her."

"Oh they barely see each other. Chibi is lucky he's coming home every night." Itachi was a Captain and that came with a lot of responsibilities. "She just _waits_ for him but she's content with that… they both are. It's scary how little they talk… they just—"

"Act like one person?"

"Yeah…It's weird." Shisui wrinkled his nose but his comment wasn't hostile.

"No, its love," Sakura said, green eyes shimmering and smiling.

"That's what I'm worried about."

…

"I didn't know you had a cat, Naruto-kun?" Hinata murmured softly against his neck.

Naruto's skin jumped when he felt another splinter be pulled free. A clink against glass caught his ear and out of the corner of his eye he caught a silver wood the size of a pencil into the bloody slosh.

"Huh?" He grunted and proceeded to arch his back even further. It was more tedious than painful to remove the better half of an exploded tree from his hide.

"There… there was a cat on your windowsill."

"Oh, yeah he's not mine."

Hinata didn't question any further. "You're healing is faster than I remember, Naruto-kun."

"I guess." Naruto stared flatly at the cracks in the plaster. This was more tedious than painful and was the direct result of that new jutsu Jiraiya was having him work on, but with Yamato-taicho still out of country (despite being recalled) and Kakashi in Camp Sasuke (as Naruto had dubbed their old training ground), he was stuck with half-backed algorithms to go by and tree targets.

"Ah, the beauty of theoretical physics and Nature-Shape manipulation," Jiraiya had hummed as he tried to execute a technique he barely understood, let alone do correctly and then proceeded to fail miserably.

_Failure_ resulted in a tree exploding from too much chakra and Shape instability and his current situation: with nine hundred tiny splinters lodged into his flesh like maggots to a corpse.

_Kagome would have been able to figure it out and prevented this…_

Naruto groaned, why did everything have to be so miserable?

"I-Is everything alright?" Hinata questioned, her fingers jittery and nails caked in blood as she tended to Naruto's wounds. "Naruto-kun?"

The Jinchuuriki just sighed irritably, it wasn't Hinata's fault. She'd been watching after him once Sakura prioritized Sasuke's dislocated shoulder. It wasn't healing right, or at least that was what Sakura had said to Hinata when she checked in on him. It had been horrible fight and the worst part was, he didn't even remember how it started or who, for that matter.

All Naruto knew was that Kagome was gone with Itachi and Sasuke blamed him for it when it was clearly Itachi's fault.

"You forced me onto her," Sasuke had gritted out and Naruto remembered the humiliation blooming red in the Uchiha's face.

"I didn't force anything," Naruto had shot back and they had been by a river. "You don't have to be such a prick all the time or cower like a little bitch when Itachi comes around."

"You are the one who actually has the fool's notion of competing with him," Sasuke had said so lowly.

"What are you saying? That I'm not good enough for her?" Naruto had growled, he remembered his heart thundering in his ears. "Then I guess that makes both of us, huh, Sasuke?"

"I won't lower myself to taking my brother's…. seconds."

That's when Naruto distinctly remembered seeing red. "Take that back! You won't talk about her like that."

That's when Sasuke's Sharingan had flicked to him sharply and stared him down in the twilight. "You will grovel and settle for anything, it's pathetic," Sasuke just muttered.

Naruto had just shaken his head. "You're just sore because she rejected you, you dumbass."

That's when Sasuke had frozen and Naruto knew he hit a tender spot, for how many times had Uchiha Sasuke been denied anything? It was a slap in the face, a sobering action that seemed to have 'cleared' his head so that he could refocus on his goals. "Inconsequential, what matters now is not my prior feelings but the fact that I lost sight of my goals and the primary reason I entered into ANBU." He was not meant to fraternize with his Captain but to become a shinobi of worth and rank and ultimately surpass his brother.

Kagome was just a momentary distraction.

"Don't you hear yourself? It's Kagome, she helped you into ANBU, without her you'd be nowhere. Didn't you say she was your equal? And now she's either too low for you or too much out of your league to compete with Itachi. You're just scared, Sasuke, real fucking scared to be happy for once." Naruto pleaded but when Sasuke remained impassive as stone, Naruto just deflated. "See, that's the difference between you and me, when I care for something I don't let my pride get in the way."

Sasuke glanced to the receding sun and then back to his friend with a baleful stare."No, Naruto the difference between you and me is that I refuse to touch a whore."

That was the exact moment Naruto had tackled Sasuke into the river, nearly drowning them both. Sasuke's arm had been wrenched under a rock on the riverbed and Naruto's knuckles were split to the bone before Sai had intervened and separated them.

Naruto had proceeded to scream horrible, horrible things once the water had been coughed out his lungs and Sasuke was held back only by the pain of his torn tendons. Shisui arrived in the next moments, took Sasuke off to Sakura and he'd hadn't seen him since.

That had been three days ago.

"_Naruto-kun—?_

Naruto looked back over his shoulder to the timid Hyuuga; long dark hair, creamy white skin with healthy flush and pale eyes with a hint of lavender sheen to them. "Hinata?"

Something about him staring at her, startled her. "Y-Yes?"

"Have you ever been in love?"

Hinata swallowed and her blush blossomed further. "Ano, m-maybe-maybe once…"

"Would you still love that person even if they were with someone else, but they still were with you?"

Hinata jitteriness abated slightly as she mulled on it for a long while. "No," she said firmly.

Naruto rose a brow and his crystal clear eyes shined back at her. "No?"

Hinata paused her ministrations and pinched her thumbs together. "If that person cannot solely devote themselves to you, then… then they don't truly love you."

Naruto's eyes darkened to a steely cobalt. "Huh, I guess…"

If what she said was true, then why did it feel so wrong?

…

The Assassinations Bureau was a secluded hub a few kilometers out from Konoha. Kagome had been here three times prior for Reconnaissance relay and each time she set her eyes on the structure it reminded her of a legless beetle. Nestled within the foothills of some nameless mountain range along the coast, it was metal encased with a dome roof of dark tinted windows that appeared black to the onlooker. It was small, compared to the other ANBU sects and was far off from any support if it were attacked.

But that would be a fool's errand, as it was here that most lethal combatants in all Fire Country converged and worked out of. This division was known for its one-man armies and its impossible near suicidal solo missions.

Itachi led her through a dried river bed, which was unnaturally desiccated due to the rainy weather of autumn as of late. It wound under and seemingly away from the bureau and Kagome had an itching feeling that if you knocked on the front door, you weren't supposed to be here.

"Exploding tags?" She queried as they ducked completely out of view and into a mossy ravine.

"One would assume…" Itachi didn't miss a beat as he nimbly ducked under a washed out root system. "But our front entrance is completely unprotected."

"Really?" Kagome followed and leapt across a gap where their path had collapsed. Itachi had simply stepped over it. "Seems a little arrogant, especially when you're this far from the village."

"We have Genjutsu inlayed if they so much as make it past four steps," He stated a bit vacantly as his eyes were preoccupied. "But we prefer most intruders alive."

Kagome couldn't stem the shiver and the gooseflesh brought on by it crawling over her skin.

Itachi groped a rock face, until his hand sunk most unnaturally into the thick carpet of lichen. "Here," He near whispered and pressed forth.

It was the same sound when one jammed a bone right back into its socket as Itachi parted the rock. The new space in between, was slim and dark and smelled dank.

Itachi slipped though without even the slightest resistance. Kagome followed and was enveloped in a pitch black.

The opening behind them closed with bone-shattering _clap._

"Put on your mask," Echoed the disembodied voice.

Kagome did as Itachi instructed and dug it out of her pack. She slipped it on and found herself groping for a handhold.

Itachi's hand found hers in the darkness.

He led her on and the only light she could glimpse were the two pinpricks of scarlet; lambent like rubies. His Sharingan saw for them both. Soon the cavern opened to a dismal disk of light above and they were standing just below. Kagome's eyes ached and she glanced up to the circle of sky as they were both showered in a grainy beam of light. It took a moment for her to realize that it was not a muggy atmosphere that she was gazing up to but a tall ceiling and the muddled sunlight was in fact fluorescents.

"Hold on to me," Itachi murmured and she caught the faint crescent of his mask in the illumination.

She did, almost a bit too eagerly as she clasped her hands into fists and wrapped her arms around his waist.

The sound of rushing water was her only warning as Kagome felt a wave crash against them and threaten to spill into her lungs. But Kagome held on and looked desperately up to the small halo of light for hope.

"_I-Itachi,"_ she blurted and water rushed into her throat. "I can't swim."

It was too late, because instead of going up to the light, they were dragged _down._

Water swirled, engulfed the both of them and Kagome clung more tightly to Itachi more than ever. She couldn't see anything, not even Itachi's eyes and her own stung as waited frantically for the water to abate and let her _breathe._

But it didn't and soon they were tumbled and tossed and she lost all sense of direction.

It wasn't until Kagome felt as if her lungs might explode did the waters part and leave her a crumpled shivering mess clinging to Itachi like a soaked and terrified kitten.

Light still evaded her, but she realized her eyes were closed and quickly opened them.

"Ah, Taichou, you're back."

They were in a basement by the looks of it. Kagome was splayed on tile and a pool of water with arms firmly wrapped around Itachi's waist.

"Remind me to speak to Shisui about the latest security measure." Itachi brushed himself off, stood and brought Kagome to her feet along with him. There was a squelching sound as the two ANBU composed themselves.

"He didn't tell you about the back door?" The voice intoned again and Kagome's gaze finally focused in on their surroundings. The room was lined with metal tables draped in sheets and each had a corresponding light illuminating a small halo on each.

Kagome blinked at the kunoichi wearing a bear mask with long hair spilling forth in sleek violet plaits.

"No, he must have forgotten…" Itachi pushed his mask back. "Nullify his clearance, Uzuki-san. He is not a part of this division any longer."

Kagome stiffened. _Uzuki-san?_

"Of course, Taichou." The kunoichi nodded and then quirked her head at Kagome. "I cleared off the roof training area as per your request, but before you head up would you like inspect my findings?"

If Itachi gave any indication that he would, Kagome didn't hear it but she could only stand there numbly as Itachi approached and the kunoichi unveiled what lay beneath the sheets. It only took the smallest glimpses of sallow flesh for her to realize where they were.

They were in a morgue.

"Ew," Kagome grumbled with crossed arms as she watched Itachi and the kunoichi hover over a limp body like it was a book to be memorized.

"This is one brought in by Kage's team?" Itachi intoned as he cupped his chin.

"If you could call it that." The kunoichi thrummed her nails on the clipboard. "He was pretty banged up and I had to run him from the Taki border."

"Orochimaru was in Waterfall?"

"No, it was just another wild goose chase but they were able to salvage a body for my pickup." The Kunoichi then traced the sutures that cross lined the corpse's chest. "He was experimented on, but his organs were intact along with minimal alterations. This was no Resurrection techinique, thank god, but it means this was a willing follower of the corrupt Sannin."

"Anything else?" Itachi gave the body a lingering glance, traveling along his bandaged neck. He had been decapitated.

"Nothing that we didn't already know, but he was carrying vials that matched the samples of the plague found in Kawa."

Kagome perked up. "So it was Orochimaru who put out that plague?"

The kunoichi nodded. "Though, this is pretty large scale, even for him and it exceeds our prior estimates of the Sannin's manpower."

Kagome knew what that meant. Orochimaru was no longer working alone, he had garnered not only followers but something much more dangerous.

_Devotion. _

"But who would fall into allegiance with such a twisted man?"

Itachi and the kunoichi exchanged a swift glance, then Uzuki Yuugao answered. "Someone with a common cause, say, like the destruction of Konoha."

…

"Give it a rest," Kakashi ordered over the field.

Sasuke's arm slacked, but lightning still buzzed and cracked at his fingertips. The Uchiha just stared listlessly into the newest set of storm clouds.

"How's your shoulder?" Kakashi asked as he appraised the wrapped appendage. It wasn't Sasuke's sword arm thank the gods, but it was still injured and despite Sakura's daily healings, tendons were always a bit slow to heal.

"An inconvenience," Sasuke bit out.

Kakashi sighed, ever since Naruto's and Sasuke's little spat, his protégée had been insufferable. "Well, that's enough for today, Tsunade-sama will start complaining soon about the weather." There was just so much rain everyone could take and Sasuke just wasn't grasping the concept of harnessing natural elements as fast as Kakashi would have liked. "Tomorrow is yours, Sasuke."

Immediately the shoulder blades jutting beneath Sasuke's haori strained, like clipped bird wings and the cords of tendon in his neck grew taut. "No."

"You're not focused, Sasuke. It's a waste to keep on like this if you are not serious."

"I am," Sasuke took a steady step forward.

"No, you're not." Kakashi's voice clipped dangerously and snuffed out his student's persistence.

Sasuke let out a grating breath, before averting his eyes and glaring furiously at the mud puddles. "Why don't you tell me what this is really about, Kakashi?" He intoned smoothly, his emotions in check and his eyes utterly inhuman and darkly callous, like cold abysmal pits.

"I believe you know exactly what this is about Sasuke," Kakashi replied idly.

"I'm not going to discuss _her_," Sasuke uttered the last word with an almost guttural growl.

"Actually," Kakashi closed Icha Icha with a _snap_. "I wish to discuss your brother, Sasuke."

Sasuke's body just strained even further, like a bow drawn taut and ready to kill. "What about my brother?"

"You see, Sasuke… well, how do I put this?" Kakashi stroked his masked chin, one grey eye glancing up to the swirling nebulous cathedral above. "You seem conflicted."

"Conflicted…" Sasuke reiterated dryly.

"Hai, for one you're very protective of your brother, yet seething about something that is none of my business and your new view on Kagome-san is skewed and contorted to the point where she is beneath you and at the same time, still out of your reach." Kakashi scuffed a sandal along a bed of pebbles. "At least this is what I have gathered, so far." Along with Naruto's rant as he took him to the hospital and Sakura's occasional grumbles when she checked in on Sasuke's shoulder. Kakashi was just voicing his other's students concerns in a much more civil and less crude manner. "So, what will it be, Sasuke? Give in now or later?" Because they all knew no one could hold a grudge better than Uchiha Sasuke but he caved easier than anyone else on Team Seven when it came to someone he cared a about.

Sasuke was staring at the dirt. "Later…" He said gruffly, eyes downcast with muddy reflections.

"Ah, well now that is settled what shall we be doing about Naruto?"

Sasuke shrugged, the Dobe and him always made up in the end sometimes with more punches than _hugs_. "I don't understand him…" Naruto was perfectly content with _sharing _Kagome…

Yet, Sasuke threw it all away.

"Few do," Kakashi mused. "He is selfless to a fault and a bit too kindhearted for his own good but… that's what love will do to you. It makes you insane." It makes you forget what is good and bad and just makes you what are meant to be

Sasuke didn't respond, just watched in silence as the sky cried and regret pooled at his feet.

…

Kagome remained unnerved until they reached the bureau's roof. Itachi had forced a katana unto her in the weapons locker and when she had protested, he had fervently prodded as to _why _as her file told him she was a proficient dual swordsman.

"Fighting solely with a short sword is foolish," He had said and his tone was gratingly supercilious. "You already are easily overpowered by height and weight, why disadvantage yourself further?"

Kagome huffed and glared murderously at the sword. "I threw my katana into the ocean because it was soaked with blood. I couldn't bear to use it again knowing it took a life."

Itachi ignored her contradictions. "This one is quite clean, I assure you," He stated as if it were cleanliness was the root of the problem.

Kagome continued to pout at the katana outstretched to her. "No."

Itachi let out an audible. "Do you want to lose?"

Kagome swiped the sword begrudgingly. "Fine."

And that had been the end of that.

Now, they were currently on the roof which reminded Kagome more of a bubble than anything because it was completely enclosed in glass above with metal flooring beneath.

"Pretty," She said and her voice echoed faintly as she observed the swirling sky above. "But is it really practical? I could shatter this place with a flick of my finger."

Itachi was testing the balance of his katana on his wrist. "You could attempt to do so… though I would advise against it. Every inch of this area is infused with a… chakra repellent of sorts."

"What? Like a barrier?" Kagome flicked experimentally on a square of the clear dome and instead of the usually_ ping_ of glass, she heard a metallic _thrum_. If what he said was true, any attack, no matter the magnitude, would be contained. It was the ideal training ground, especially when Konoha was always scrambling to repair the old ones.

"Of sorts, it is still very experimental."

"Sounds expensive," Kagome said as she watched the _glass _fog from her breath.

"It is," Itachi informed her smoothly. "May we proceed?" And he outstretched and arm as one would do to his dance partner, except, Itachi's hand held a sword and his eyes were anything but passionate.

"Of course." Kagome flicked the sheath off the blade in a fluid motion. It went clattering across the ground, unceremoniously. She had no respect for the weapon, it was a tool and it would serve her.

It was then, it started raining.

Droplets turned to a muffled roar and the world blurred around them.

Itachi didn't move.

Kagome swallowed thickly.

In the next moment he was gone.

"_Shit,"_ Kagome bit out before flipping back and dodging a flash of metal. Her eyes were frantic, breathing already too heavy and her heart anxious. She felt the thrill of the fight tingle into her limbs and chakra eagerly flood into her fingertips. Her next motion brought a rush of wind louder than the storm winds outside. She ran, leapt and twirled her body until the blade in hand reached a powerful arc and shot a blast of Wind chakra in her wake.

Kagome landed with a roll and remained crouched as Itachi flickered into sight. He staggered slightly and gingerly brought his hand to the slice along his cheek.

Anyone else should have been quartered by her counter, but all it did was draw him out.

"I knew you were in my blind spot." Kagome nearly taunted as she hunkered even lower like cat about to pounce.

"I believe that should be a plural," Itachi said and his eyes bled out to his Sharingan.

"Not fair," Kagome pouted but before Itachi could quip she launched and violently assailed Itachi in a swift procession.

But Itachi met her strikes as if he were her mirror image. Each clash brought their sword hissing and sparks biting out. Kagome ducked suddenly and she felt the metal sing over her nape as she coiled around, utilizing her size. Her blade laid close to her ribs as she slid under Itachi's arm, clamped a freehand on his shoulder and flipped over him. Her legs remained straight into the air until she ended with a knee firmly planted into his chest.

Itachi's sword dropped and his arms encircled her thigh and brought her down with him.

Kagome somersaulted to break free. Itachi rolled with her.

It wasn't until Kagome was straddling his chest and Itachi's arms were locked perpetually around her legs did they stop. Her katana had been lost in the flail.

"I could cut off your head, you know," Kagome informed him as she wiggled her free fingers.

"Hn," Itachi just smirked and grips above her knees jerked and tightened.

Aside from breaking her legs or dislocating her hips, Itachi was out of alternatives.

Kagome crossed her arms. "You let me win."

"That was the only possible result," Itachi simple stated and in the next moment he roughly flipped Kagome onto her back.

Kagome huffed as her spine collided with the metal floor. Her reflex was for her legs to tighten around Itachi in her guard and she did just that as her knees hooked on his hipbones. The space usually placed between combatants closed and disappeared quickly when Itachi leaned heavily in between her legs and laid his long torso along the expanse of her entire body.

He didn't move up to her face or even send a lingering gaze to her lips.

He laid his head solidly on her chest and listened to the lively beat of her heart. Kagome felt his arms coil around her waist as he pulled her to him in a rustle of fabric.

Kagome just wrapped her arms around him and felt him breathe.

She had never felt him this gentle.

_I don't want to fight, _the planes of his shoulders sighed as his arms swore silent covenants to protect.

"Itachi…" She breathed as she traced figure eights along his spine.

_Let's just live in the moment. _

"We have to go," She whispered and didn't dare move under his weight.

_Because in this moment, I'm yours and you're mine._

"Just… wait." His voice thundered through her and lightning silently protested in the distance.

"Okay."

And in the shadows of the storm, they stayed.

* * *

**Author's note: **Sad to say I will be going on hiatus for a number of reasons (life is hectic, yes?), with hopes to return quickly and only if you all will have me back. You will have me back, won't you? _*puppy eyes*_ Reviews always appreciated during this stressful time in my life and I have the…um… 'unedited' version of this chapter. Just PM me your email address and it will be sent, lime and all. I'll miss you all so much! *hugs* Farewell! ~KK


	26. The Waking

**Author's Note:** What's this? An easter bunny just pooped something glorious into your email box? Well, go on, go on! Scroll down and enjoy, you little bugger, you! ~KK

**Warnings:** Child Abuse, Language, Gore/Violence, Sexual/Adult Situations, Suicidal and other disturbing themes. (For this chapter, Itachi's tendency towards murdering little girls)

_**Rating:**_ Mature

_**Pairings:**_ Itachi/Kagome, Sasuke/Kagome, Naruto/Kagome, Shisui/Sakura, Shikamaru/Temari

_**Ages:**_

Kakashi: 30

Shisui: 23

Itachi: 20

Neji, Lee, TenTen: 17

Sasuke & Sakura: 16

Naruto: 15

Kagome: 12

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Six~**

The Waking

* * *

_in these desperate nights_

_full of sour fog_

_i wake a thousand times_

* * *

_First Captain Nezumi,_

_ As per your request, Captain Higurashi-Nara's memory extraction was exacted. However, I am regretful to inform you of its ultimate failure. I must add that any further requests you may have regarding Captain Higurashi's psychological state will be null and void. It is in my professional opinion that the retrograde amnesia she has withstood is more a blessing, than an ailment. Any further prying may cause irreversible damage upon her already fragile psyche and permanently disable her as a functioning shinobi of Konohagakure. You may petition the Council to override my judgment but they too have reached a verdict and have reaffirmed by sanctioning through majority vote. The Hokage also concurred to the same. Do disregard any emissaries sent your way that relay your inactive rank, your name has been placed upon the rosters along with your solo status, granted. The Council expects you active within the week. May the Will of Fire burn strong with in you, Itachi._

—_Shimura Danz_o

**(post script;)** _On a personal note, discontinue any further fraternization with Seventh Captain Yamaneko. Your indiscretion has become sloppy at best and repercussions for the both of you has already been discussed._

* * *

Kagome awoke, from time to time, in the middle of night.

It started the first night she stayed with Itachi in their new home. It was as if her body started at the very idea of him leaving her. Tonight was different, however, as when she awoke, her fears became a reality—

He was gone.

The moon silhouetted the empty space and cold indentations in the sheets.

"_Ita…chi?"_ she mumbled into the silvery blue light. Her hand groped the pale waves of fabric.

She sat up, ramrod straight, in the next moment with large eyes gaping, dilated and frantic. "Itachi?"

Silence was her answer, but her mind raced and revelations washed over her.

_There is a clan meeting tonight._

_I see._

_My absence cannot be afforded._

_I know._

_But he had come back, straight after_, Kagome thought a bit groggily remembering how Itachi slid into bed when it was late enough to just have been barely asleep but early enough to whisper a few tender words and wrap his arms around her waist…

Kagome's eyes flicked to the shoji screen, lining the entrance to their bedroom. An ochre glow emanated from down the hall, spilled onto the floorboards and churned with the moonlight from the atrium's windows. Shadows sifted, and Kagome was already on her feet and yanking the screen ajar before anyone could blink.

Murmurs, much too soft, came from Itachi's study.

She paused, her footfalls silent and swiftly cast a Genjutsu over herself. It mimicked her chakra signature, as she repressed her own and wafted back to the bedroom with a buzz of chakra. It was a complex physical manifestation, but a neat trick for stealth missions and resembled a Shadow Clone in more ways than one.

With the lightest touch, Kagome peered in with suppressed chakra and watched as the backs of armor faced her and the sheen of vambraces glinted in the flame-light.

There were three ANBU in Itachi's study.

"Taichou, the situation is getting out hand, he is outright challenging you."

"There is no challenge, Yuugao." It was Itachi's voice and it sung sweetly to Kagome's ears. "Kage is simply treading the waters. He will test my brother and search for a weakness, nothing more. He wouldn't dare."

There was a shuffle of papers. Kagome could envision Itachi caught up in the bureaucracy of ANBU while disputing the ethics of eliminating a comrade a little easily.

"Taichou, what about the girl? It seems too much of a coincidence that your association with her spurred this…_ hazing_." The female voice said once more, it was familiar and when she moved, Kagome caught a glimpse of long hair, glossy as a plum bud. "Kage must have some personal interest to warrant this much attention."

"She was on his team, Taichou." Another voice, also female, however it was more pining and Kagome caught the faint outline of feminine curves from under the black ANBU uniform and armor as well as cropped brown hair.

"Briefly, yes." Itachi's tone was utterly placid.

"He must have a personal vendetta against her, Taichou." It was a male voice, young and just barely grasping for baritones.

Kagome couldn't see the third.

"Then it seems Kage is killing two birds with one stone," Yuugao mused and shifted on her feet. "Spiting you and rectifying whatever spat he had with Higurashi."

"_Rectifying?"_ The other female scoffed. "He probably wants to defame her for turning him down…"

"That is quite an assumption, Taji," Itachi clipped and Kagome felt all of them deflate at their Captains words.

"We don't know the premise of their relationship. There are too many variables, Taichou." The male voice informed his Captain. "We cannot adequately protect your brother if the intent is not clear. Kage could be targeting Higurashi instead or even_ you_."

"Be patient, Arata," Itachi's palm went up into the air, in a staying motion he gestured to the shoji screen behind them, where's Kagome's eyes peered eagerly in. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

A stillness washed over the ANBU in the room and they parted like a dark sea. Kagome took this as her queue to enter and the shoji screen parted with a hiss, as she stepped into the flame-lit study.

Itachi sat serenely behind his low writing desk, papers splayed in an organized manner and he stared at her intently, his gaze softening. "Kagome," he gestured to the ANBU flanking her. "These are my most trusted subordinates."

Kagome turned on her heel and faced the three. Uzuki Yuugao caught her eye first. The mysterious kunoichi from earlier in the Assassinations Bureau, now stood pale faced without her bear mask and with rouged lips. Her beauty was classic, but she was too toned to pass off as a civilian and her eyes were too quick.

Plus, that purple hair was unmistakable.

'Taji' was a short and spunky woman with a creamy peach complexion and a splash of freckles. Maybe a hair taller than Kagome, she had a plain face, dewy brown eyes and was a brunette. Her haircut looked more functional than fashionable and she had a plainness to blend into any crowd, seamlessly. She was the oldest, maybe late twenties.

She was very unlike the ethereal Yuugao.

'Arata', Kagome had to turn to see. He nestled himself into a corner and was a small youth with hair that gleamed like fresh blood. He looked young, maybe a year or so older than herself and was a tad gawky. On closer inspection however, he had an older face of a young man but the build to pass for an adolescent boy. His skin was tanner, his jaw line well defined and eyes a russet brown that reminded Kagome of cherry wood. He would be devilishly handsome one day.

Once he went through his growth spurt.

All three ANBU could go undercover, whether it be a labororer, seamstress or noblewoman, each was an assassin.

Kagome couldn't forget that.

"Aside from Shisui," Taji grunted, but it wasn't embittered.

"Shisui is a Captain now, Taji," Arata spoke in sort of a rasp. "He is no longer Taichou's subordinate."

"Aa," Itachi quickly agreed and the conversation trickled to an end. "Arata, I believe you have a question for Kagome."

Arata nodded, drew himself off the wall he was leaning on and set his eyes on her. "As you know, First Captain Kage has been targeting Sasuke. We need to know why."

Taji droned her nails on her wrists and Kagome noticed the unnaturally long tips. "At first we thought it was to get at Itachi-taichou."

"They have… conflicting views," Yuugao elaborated a little but her voice was like silk as her rouged lips pursed.

Taji snorted. "That's a nice way of putting it."

"Regardless of what factions lay in ANBU, it still doesn't change the fact that Kage is pursuing this much too aggressively to be a mere power struggle."

That's when it occurred to Kagome. _Ah, Kage wants to be the next Captain-Commander and Itachi is the only one in his way. _Which made sense, considering that was the highest position aside from Hokage and no ANBU ever was a Hokage but every Captain-Commander was an ANBU. "What makes you think it's something else?"

"Timing," Arata responded immediately. "It is far too coincidental that as soon as Kage-taichou witnessed Sasuke-kun on your team that this started shortly after."

"Well," Kagome shrugged. "I honestly have no idea how it could be related to me. Kage and I only knew each for a short while and we didn't part on the best of terms."

"He never made any advances on you?" Yuugao pried, her eyes flicking up and down Kagome's figure.

Kagome stilled, wondering where they would draw such a conclusion but her breath caught when she realized they obviously weren't basing their information on nothing.

She was in Uchiha Itachi's abode at an ungodly hour in nothing but _his_ shirt.

"No," Kagome swallowed. "Kage and I were always professional. He was more… brotherly, I guess you could say." Kagome cringed slightly.

"Interesting," Arata mused and the redheaded ANBU's eyes flittered with thought.

"What?" Taji prodded. "You figure out something?"

"Kage's records are limited, of course," Arata said. Kage was just Kage, there was no alias. Any family ties, he cut when he became ANBU and then tossed his birth name to the wind along with the rest of his life. "However, I was able to find out that he had one sister."

"Where is she now?" Itachi glanced partially up from his papers.

"Dead," Arata replied and his face was disturbingly calm. "Kage was never born in Konoha, he lived on the borderlands, showed potential when enemy shinobi attacked his village and was quickly swooped up into Konoha's military service. His lack of identity is to cover up that he's foreign. His sister is the only shred of family history I was able to gather, Taichou."

"Once she died, he must have lost everything," Yuugao murmured to herself, shadows pulling under her eyes.

"Yuugao," Itachi's voice cut into her reverie and the purple haired kunoichi looked up with quick eyes damp and wistful. "Look into this further. I want to know every detail."

"Hai, Taichou." Yuugao whispered, brought her mask she held at her thighs to her face and swiftly stepped out the room without a sound.

"Arata. Taji." Itachi's gaze flicked to the other two. "Monitor my brother's activities for the night. You may resume your duties in the morning."

They mimicked Yuugao's movements, but Taji lingered in the doorway while Arata bided his time in the hallway for her. "Taichou?" She asked hesitantly, fingers curling on the wood framework of the shoji screen.

"Yes?" Itachi rose a brow.

"Is it true you applied for solo status yesterday?" Taji looked hopeful that he didn't.

"And it was granted." Itachi reshuffled his papers. "We are on suspension, Taji. The ambush hit our squadron hard. I would advise you do the same if you wish to receive more than a stipend this month."

Taji nodded and her doe-like eyes blinked widely, innocent as a bear cub. "Of course," she murmured and then disappeared down the halls and into the night.

Kagome waited, the silence was tense as she watched the Uchiha heir recollect himself. Itachi was still in his night clothes and the thin fabric showed every taut line in his lean frame.

"I thought you left," Kagome spoke first.

Itachi didn't look up. "And I informed you I would depart in the morning."

Kagome tilted her head. _"Are you upset?"_

"I am… _strained_." Itachi _sighed _and the action was foreign to her. He paused, then lifted a hand into the air and gestured with those long fingers of his at her. "And you… dressed in such a manner is not alleviating it whatsoever."

Kagome rose a brow. He had never been so petty with her before. "What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" She glanced down at herself. She was just wearing Itachi's shirt.

"In front of my subordinates, it is inappropriate." Itachi glanced up, finally and met her gaze. "In front of me however… that is a different matter entirely." His voice resonated darkly throughout the room.

Kagome huffed. "Sorry if I wasn't dressed for company, but you seemed pretty personal with them. How many of your subordinates are you on a first name basis with?"

"Not many, as I said, Kagome, they are my most trusted," Itachi reiterated his earlier statement.

"Aside from Shisui," Kagome said pointedly.

"Shisui is no longer a part of my squadron, if I cannot trust those around me then I would be long dead, by now," Itachi said darkly flippant.

"Don't say that," Kagome muttered.

"It is the truth," Itachi replied again. "Death is always a possibility, Kagome."

Kagome's knees seemed to give out from under her as she knelt before him, arms curling under her head on the writing desk and large crystalline eyes gazing up. "Even for me?"

Itachi paused, his knuckles flexed under thin skin around his fountain pen. "There are no possibilities with you, Kagome. Only certainty." His dark eyes reflected the flame's tongue from the lantern. "But there is no need to discuss it any further."

Kagome's mood didn't improve. "You see? It's no fun talking about it."

Itachi's eyes gleamed, fixated on her. "So you reject my mortality, then?"

"Pretty much."

"Eventually, Kagome. one of us will die."

"When we're really old, I'll push you down the stairs and you'll take me with you."

His lips quirked in amusement. "You truly believe we will live that long?"

Kagome's eyes glanced up to the ceiling. "One can hope, right? Or else what else is there to live for?"

Itachi smiled softly and it was achingly slow to surface. "Aa." His voice was so warm.

Kagome shifted on the balls of her feet, unsure of what to say she simply just stepped hesitantly towards Itachi and knelt on the other end of the table. Knees tucked under, Kagome splayed her hands on her bared thighs and leaned forward. "Tonight is our last night," she murmured with eyes averted and cheeks flushed.

Itachi propped an elbow on his desk, and let his fingers hook on the cusp of his jaw. "And what do you have in mind?" His eyes were intensely fixated on her.

Kagome just _shrugged_, something unsaid quelled her mood immediately_._ "How did the clan meeting go?"

The glint in Itachi's faded into the background and he was all business, once more. "Formal," he said. "Very little action has been taken concerning you and my brother, as far as I am privy to."

Kagome's mood seemed to dampen further. "I see. I'll go pack then." She stood and was barely rounding the corner before Itachi was effectively blocking her path.

Kagome glared at his chest.

"Is something the matter?" he asked genially and she felt his fingers glide down her cheek and twirl a lock of hair.

She pushed his hand away. "Why is it I always feel like you are hiding something."

Itachi tilted his head down at her and there was bemusement in his voice. "Perhaps, I am."

"_Also—"_Kagome huffed, crossed her arms and became as prickly as a hornet's nest. "Why is it _me _who instigates everything?"

Itachi stilled and felt his hand coil around her neck. Her pulse was thundering to his touch and Kagome's eyes drifted close when his other free arm scooped under her butt. Itachi held her easily at eyelevel against the wall and on his knee. Kagome felt him lean in, take a long silent breath and give an elongated brush of the lips. It was hesitant to a reverence and she felt him breathe her in as his hands skimmed her ribs from under _his_ shirt.

Kagome leaned her forehead against his, stared intently into his eyes and then they both glanced down at the other's lips.

Kagome kissed him first.

Itachi remained still, both hands gripped firmly on either side of her ribs and her thighs firmly clamped around his leg.

Kagome's breath became audible as she coaxed his mouth open. She gasped and she felt the trained movement of his tongue glide in and revel in the intimacy and warmth. They breathed in one another, felt one another and tasted—

"_Mhm_, Itachi—"Kagome hummed against him, with fingers already threading through his hair. She broke away and Itachi didn't hesitate to trail his lips along his neck. Kagome felt his tongue dip into her collarbone and her flesh was swimming in the tantalizing sensation. "Itachi," She barely got out and his hand crept along her ribcage. Kagome squeaked when he cupped her breast. _"Itachi!"_

He stilled, after a moment and Kagome ignored how far his arms were up her shirt and how solid his grip was. _"What?"_ he growled.

Kagome's brow furrowed. "You're not listening."

"Kagome…" Itachi let out a long drawn out breath and she felt his entire ribcage heave onto her. "Is this really the time?"

Kagome felt a twinge of guilt, he'd been busy and exhausted and the most they had done in the past few days was cuddle. "Yes. You're not telling me something."

Itachi leaned his head against her collarbone and it was more out of exasperation than frustration. "Once I tell you, Kagome, you are going to leave…"

"That's for m e to decide."

"Yes…" He leaned in and his lips grazed the shell of her ear as his voice rang strong. "However, I do not wish for you to leave." He nipped at her earlobe.

Kagome jerked her head away. "Itachi. Just tell me."

His hands fell cold and within the shadows of flame and moonlight, he conceded. "Sasuke is in the hospital."

Kagome was already leaving his arms and stumbling down the hallways.

Itachi wouldn't have minded being a tad selfish for once and keeping her to himself before the world tore her away but Sasuke always had a tendency to bring out the best in him.

No matter how truly infuriating that may be.

As Itachi slipped into bed alone, he simply hoped that Kagome remembered to wear pants.

…

The hospital was painfully bright and reeked of disinfectant. Kagome darted through the white-cloaked medic-nin and the jumpy nurses to get through. She didn't need a room number, she had her senses and she didn't need an elevator because she was faster.

_Kage_, she mentally cursed, _that's why Itachi's teammates were so concerned and came by at such an ungodly hour. _Kagome barreled open a door to the room where Sasuke's signature emanated from.

_What did he do to you, Sasuke?_

The door swung with a whine and revealed the Uchiha prone on a gurney, with dark eyes riveted to the ceiling and his left arm freshly bandaged.

Kagome walked in silently, her feet padding hesitantly along the tile as she approached Sasuke. His skin was so pale, almost a near grey in the harsh lighting. It didn't even take the circles under his eyes for Kagome to see that he had lost a significant amount of blood.

"What happened?" She rasped and swallowed the lump lodged painfully in her throat.

His eyes flicked to her, they were black and bitter. Unspoken they said, _this is what happens when you abandon me. _

"Sasuke, I'm so sorry," She whispered as her hand unconsciously reached out to him.

"_Don't—!"_Sasuke smacked it away. "Touch me."

Kagome's face fell and her eyes paled as her hand crumpled to her chest. "Sasuke, I'm sorry, okay. Naruto and I shouldn't have forced you to do anything."

"You made me look like a fool." Sasuke sat up, much too quick for him to not suppress a wince as his bound shoulder was stiff in its bindings. "Then you ran off to my brother."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know I would have such…" She remembered the sadness when she touched Sasuke's cheek. She remembered the automatic comparison she drew when he leaned in and let his defenses down. She also remembered the absolute stare of abandonment when she left him and Naruto, both. "A strong reaction."

Sasuke's eyes remained locked onto the window, it was nothing but a reflective square of black as clouds made the sky black and ruddy with city lights. "I'm not some guinea pig, Kagome… you can't just fuck around with me and then expect me to accept it." His voice was so low.

Kagome sighed in resignation, this was about many things, but most of all Uchiha Sasuke had his pride and he had forsaken it for but a moment with her. _And I threw it right back in his face. "_Sasuke, I can apologize until the sun comes up but it still won't change the fact that I can't give you what you need."

Sasuke's arched spine straightened. _"Need?"_ He seethed. "You knew what I needed and you left, Kagome."

That's when she scuttled over to him, hesitantly hopped up on the gurney and sat at a comfortable distance beside him. Sasuke had yet to push her off and Kagome took this as a good sign. "No Sasuke, you need a relationship, not another competition." Her hand found his and she took his calloused palm into hers. His grip was limp at her touch. "Naruto and Itachi… it wouldn't be fair to you. You need someone who can give themselves fully to you, Sasuke… and I…" Her voice wavered. "I can't do that."

Sasuke's hand slipped out of hers coldly. "And how is it _fair _to Naruto or my brother, then?"

"It's not." Kagome smirked. "But you can try telling them otherwise."

"Yui will be married to my brother, Kagome. He will never leave the Clan for you."

_Ouch._

A blade shot through her heart at his words. "I know…" _Just as I will never leave Naruto._

Sasuke's eyes slipped to appraise her, she was frail looking, swimming an oversized shirt and combat pants and resembled a wilted flower in early winter's chill. "He risks a lot for you though…" Sasuke grumbled. "We all do."

Kagome felt a smile pull on her lips. "I know, believe me, I know…"

It was then a titter broke their ambience and the two ANBU on the gurney whipped around to see the intruder leering from the doorway.

"Aww, I told you they would be holding hands within two minutes flat," Shisui grinned from ear to ear bright as a poppy.

Sakura pushed past him, pink hair frazzled and green eyes muddled with cloying sleep. Sakura trudged up to Sasuke and Kagome, blinked and pointed directly at Kagome. _"You," _She croaked. "—have been gone a really long time."

"_Profound,"_ Shisui commented on the grumpy Sakura.

"And_ you_," Sakura's accusing finger was at aimed at Sasuke. "Just how stupid can you be?" She seemed to sober. "Who goes training alone when they know someone has it out for them?"

"What is she talking about?" Kagome shot Sasuke a look.

"Nothing." He immediately brushed them off.

"I wouldn't call getting struck by lightning nothing, Brat."

"And then being ambushed, no wait, they didn't ambush you—they cast another Genjutsu on you and you believed you were _ambushed_." Sakura huffed and tetchily crossed her arms.

Now, Kagome was inconsolable. "Kage _ambushed _you?"

"No," Sasuke grit his teeth. "It was someone else."

"What happened?" Kagome demanded and her small hand was clamped on his forearm. "Sasuke, _tell me._"

Shisui spoke. "He stabbed himself, Chibi."

Sasuke sent a dark look over to his cousin. "How do you already know?"

Shisui shrugged. "Asked around, say… like the couple of ANBU hanging around outside. Taji and Arata have been watching you two like hawks."

"You stabbed yourself?" Kagome reiterated, blue eyes leveling him.

Sasuke settled into a nasty fit of silence.

"He thought he was stabbing his attackers," Sakura droned and patted down her wrinkled tunic that looked like it had been scavenged from the laundry hamper. "Shizune said you could be released in the morning." Sakura looked up to Kagome. "He's fine, really Kagome. He just managed to make a fool of himself."

"I don't care," Kagome hissed. "Were you able to identify the attackers?"

Sasuke barely shook his head.

Shisui scratched his neck. "Well, this was a good excuse to miss the Clan meeting, Brat; but aside from your mother worrying, your dad looked pretty pissed and you missed a really good glaring contest Itachi and him had—oh and Yui busted in making a huge scene. They had to drag her out by the hair." Shisui snickered and wiped away a tear. "Ah, it was priceless."

"I bet it was," Sakura rolled her eyes. "Kagome, can I speak to you? _Alone_."

The little prodigy nodded, hopped off the gurney and stepped out of the room like a wayward child about to be lectured.

It wasn't until Sakura was looming like a pink haired sasquatch and Kagome was pinned against the wall did speak. "I blame you entirely for all of this by the way."

"Oh, thanks," Kagome snubbed. "That makes me a whole lot better."

"Sasuke's wounds will heal but his ego may take some more mending… What were you thinking running off on them like that? Sasuke is still new to ANBU, he could have been killed earlier. You should've been there for him!"

Kagome just glared at the floor, the pristine tiles and the oddly stained grout. "How's Naruto?"

"If you thought Sasuke was bad…"Sakura sighed, a pained expression crossed over her features.  
"Not good, Jiraiya has been training him to keep him occupied but he's… restless. It's like his mind is in a fog while his body just reacts. I'm sure you heard about the fight him and Sasuke had?"

Kagome nodded, eyes downcast.

"He's been like that. _Violent._ Kakashi-sensei doesn't want me training with him, right now."

"He would never hurt you, Sakura!" Kagome immediately protested.

"Doesn't matter Kagome-chan. He's getting worse and you leaving him didn't help."

Kagome's mind raced, things couldn't continue on like this or else she would lose him to the demon. "What about Tenzou? The one with the Shodaime's DNA."

Sakura shook her head. "Shishou has been trying for weeks to get him back in country, but communication has been hard and his mission is vital for some reason. I'm sorry, Kagome but I don't know the details. It's all very classified."

_Not if you're an ANBU Captain,_ Kagome thought with sharp eyes glancing up to the kunoichi. "I can launch a retrieval mission and get him back here within the week."

Sakura's eyes brightened. "You can do that?"

"Why not?" Kagome's eyes dashed down the hallway, and the yearning was clear to Sakura. "I'll speak to Tsunade-sama at sunup."

"Alright…"Sakura nodded hesitantly. "Naruto won't like you going on another mission but…"

"We don't have a choice," Kagome finished. "And I'll deal with Sasuke in the meantime. It'll be good to get away..."

"For you or for him?"

"I don't know…"Kagome's head fell as she whispered. "I don't know what I'm going to tell Itachi…"

Sakura hooked a finger under Kagome's chin. "Buck up. I'll talk to Shisui about Itachi. He'll be fine, Kagome-chan, _really._ I think you underestimate him sometimes."

"Maybe," Kagome cast another sullen look down the hallway. Who was she waiting for?

"Just_ go_, already," Sakura sighed exasperatedly. "Naruto is probably sulking about knowing Sasuke-kun is in the hospital again and he can't visit."

…

Naruto watched as his nail beds receded back and the clawed tips dulled out to become rounded and blunt. He thrummed his fingers along the windowsill and stared out into the night. The cricket-song was soft, as the stars winked back in crisp speckles.

One of Sakura's slugs had slid up the trellis to report that Sasuke was in the hospital after being found nearly stabbed to death in alleyway by his own sword. Naruto immediately sprang for the door but had froze when he remembered Sasuke's baleful stare and callous words.

He was the last person Sasuke needed.

So Naruto waited, his mind settling in the same routine of picturing Kagome trapped deep within the bowels of Kikyo Castle, or out of country without his knowledge or tied up to be held against her will as she screamed for him to save her or the worst yet, laughing with Itachi without a thought about him or Sasuke.

Naruto sighed, and soon let his mind cloud with a cloying fog that dragged him under and left in a restless trancelike sleep.

Naruto dreamed of oceans, with waves soaring to heights of mountains and the sun falling out of the sky. He dreamed that he tried to catch it, only to watch the sun crumble to sand in his grasp as he was swallowed by the waves and darkness. Naruto dreamed of maniacal laughter far off, as water spilled down his throat and the moon loomed above as his only light. He sunk to the bottom of the ocean as the moon bled.

It was only when he awoke gasping and choking did Kagome find him.

She was wrapped tightly around his ribs, her head on his back as she chanted apologies. Naruto was still craned over the windowsill when he awoke and swiveled in Kagome's grip.

"Naruto? _Naruto—!"_ She was holding him so tight. "Wake up, wake up, I'm here…"

Sleep clung heavily to him and Naruto sagged beneath Kagome until they pooled into the sheets and Kagome was stroking his hair.

She was smiling and the faint starlight on her was beautiful. "Naruto…" She leant her forehead against his, and kissed the tip of his nose.

Naruto's throat let out a strange sound, more of_ purr_ than anything else and Kagome was lost within the light of his eyes.

"I missed you," He croaked finally and wrapped his arms around her waist so that she was splayed across him.

Kagome tilted her head. "So did I."

"Don't ever, ever do that again," Naruto muttered as his eyelids grew heavy.

"I'll try," Kagome said and watched as her Jinchuuriki's eyes grew sad.

"How's Teme?"

Kagome gave a shrug. "He does not hate me so much anymore, I think."

Naruto's lips tugged down and Kagome brought the pad of her thumb to them.

"Don't worry about him, we'll work it out…" She shushed.

Naruto's eyes slipped closed as his lips quirked and he bit down playfully on her finger.

"Ow," Kagome jerked her thumb back but Naruto's teeth were locked on tight. "Naruto," She hissed and tried again, only to have him _bite down_. "Okay, okay now that really hurts—" She felt his tongue glide over the tip, as he gave a elongated suck.

Naruto gave a long growl as he tasted a single dollop of blood wash over his palate. He released her finger with a pop and Kagome immediately put the wounded digit into her mouth. "Ow," She mumbled as she cradled her thumb.

Naruto's eyes were glazed, half-lidded and swirling with moonlight.

Kagome knew that look. "_Oh, no, no—!_ It's three o'clock in the morning. We are going to _sleep_." She shot up and was sitting warily on the edge of the bed.

Naruto's smirk faltered. "In the morning then?"

Kagome was already shimming out of her pants with cheeks aflame. _"Maybe…hey!"_

Naruto hooked a strong forearm around her waist and pulled her deep into the warm covers. They curled around one another, with hands knotted at Kagome's collarbone and Naruto nuzzling into her neck.

She felt him stiffen. "What's the matter?"

His entire body went rigid as he growled. "Take off your shirt."

Kagome felt a spike of panic run through her at his demand. "Naruto, w-wait—"

Naruto's hands were already gripping at the fabric, his nails tearing at it and scraping along her skin painfully. "I can _smell_ him." His voice had turned guttural.

Kagome felt the spike in his energy, the burning hot chakra raging just under Naruto's flesh. She touched it, summoned up the will for it to disappear and took it within herself so that it could be purified.

Naruto calmed immediately to her cool touch but his grip remained tight. "I… hate this…" He rasped and seemed to struggle against sleep, his grip loosened.

"I know," She whispered before kissing his clawed hands. "Here." Kagome pulled her shirt over and she felt Naruto's eyes plastered against her spine. "But no looking," She bit out before ducking under the covers and curling against him once more.

Naruto rescinded, shuffled with fabric awkwardly and then he too followed suit by slipping out of his nightshirt. "Kind of glad you ditched the chest bindings, Kagome-chan."

Kagome felt a supreme heat start at the base of her throat and run _down_ when Naruto's bare chest contacted fully with her bare back. Instead of stiffening up like a corpse left in the tundra for a week, she melted and felt every muscle in her pool against Naruto's radiating body heat. Kagome enjoyed the intimacy but let out a stifled titter when Naruto encircled himself even further around her.

"What is it?" Naruto grumbled, much too comfortable to move and feeling exhaustion pull on him.

"Nothing, I just never thought about a guy's nipples before."

Naruto hugged her tighter. "Shut up."

…

In the silence Itachi didn't sleep. He sat on the edge of a bed he had shared for a few scant days and watched the moon dip into the horizon. It was times like these that were the most dangerous, the times where he was left alone and alone to _think._ He doubted himself, doubted his motives, doubted his actions, doubted his feelings, nothing was real, everything was ephemeral, an illusion.

Itachi watched the night sky sip at the sun, gently welcoming the soft yellow dawn.

It was times like these that Itachi didn't dare utter a word.

For Uchiha Itachi knew far more than anyone else could fathom.

And this was only the beginning, his plans had many years to come to fruition.

_He only prays that one day she forgives him and wishes his death to be swift. _

…

Nightmares were never pleasant things, and somehow Naruto had stumbled into yet another one that night. He dreamed of more laughter, far off, except this time he was running through a dark forest and the moon overhead was still a pale red. He dreamed of hunting something and wanting to bite it, _hard_. Then he was standing, the moonlight pure and untainted. His hands were wet, warm and gored. He dreamed of bodies everywhere, with the laughter ever present and his mind chanting to find her, find her, find her…

_Keep her, keep her, keep her…_

Naruto awoke in a cold sweat and Kagome groaned in her sleep uncomfortably. Morning was beginning to peak over the horizon and the chill outside their bed was bitter. The dawn caught the indigo light along Kagome's bare shoulders and the soft incline of her neck. Her flesh was completely unblemished.

Naruto raked a clawed finger along her jaw line and then to her pulse.

'_**She's hiding things from you, Kit.'**_

'Shut up,' Naruto shot back mentally. The fox's laughter always roiled his blood.

'_**The Uchiha's scent is all over her and you let her lay in your bed? Disgraceful!'**_

'_Shut up, shut up—!'_

'_**She'll leave, Kit. She always does. If you don't act, she won't ever come back.'**_

Naruto paused and his eyes memorized the precious site of her. (Her sleeping form, the soft planes of her face, her unmarked and bare flesh.)

'What should I do then?' Naruto snapped back and let himself be dragged into the deep levels of his conscious. He was then standing knee-deep in tepid water and in the antechamber before the fox's cage. The demon's domain ended and began with those bars and that simple, yet so vital sutra plastered on its front.

The great demon's paws folded and its nails scraped along the metal railing. A crescent of fangs split in the dim light. _**"Mark her,"**_ Kyuubi suggested and his voice resonated throughout.

"And what will that do?" Naruto demanded.

The fox's eyes dipped down to Naruto's seal. His torso was bare and revealed the inky mark inlayed into his flesh. _**"Correct what is not right with her. Depending how far you wish to take it, you will send a message to the Uchiha. His eyes… they will see it. It will also… help you control yourself in a more respectable manner."**_ The last part garnered a malicious chortle.

"There's nothing wrong with Kagome," Naruto declared.

The fox's irises were glistening vermillion_**. "I've warned you many times, Kit. She's dying and it's from no disease. Her birthright is awakening and her form is too weak to handle such… power." **_The fox's tongue rolled over the last word.

"No," Naruto declared again and turned his back on the kitsune.

_He locks the demon away and wishes for a new day._

…

Sasuke never slept well in hospitals, he was not sleeping well in general nowadays. Tight knots twisted themselves within his shoulders. Sasuke grit his teeth as he turned on his side for the umpteenth time, only to see the first trickle of sunlight spill in from the shudders. The room was dark and cold and quiet. A few murmurs could be heard down the hall as well as shadows tossing under the doorframe from the nurses turning in from their graveyard shifts.

It was finally out there, Kagome was with his brother and Naruto at the _same time_. Sasuke felt a heat roil his blood and a bitter taste splash over his tongue at the thought.

It would take time, but he would suppress such emotions. Soon, Kagome would be an afterthought, his Captain only…

But then, his mind would slip back to same old routine where he would wonder about their imminent betrothal and how it would change things.

Sasuke remained like this for a long while. He felt the two faint ANBU signatures drift away as morning surfaced and chased them away as surely as monsters. No one else came by to visit him and soon Sasuke had given up on leaving this place. Maybe, he could just lie here and wait for people to forget about him.

That was what would eventually happen anyway, right? Kagome, Itachi and Naruto would simply just become too enthralled with one another and cast him aside completely. It was bound to happen, right? Why not help them and simply remain in this room for the rest of his days, so they wouldn't even have to see him. Who gave a fuck about him, anyways? _**Right?**_

Someone entered silently, it was a medic-nin and Sasuke didn't even bother to turn around. The medic-nin must have thought he was asleep because she placed something on the nightstand of his hospital bed before departing quietly.

Sasuke's eyes remained riveted to the pooling sunlight on tile, but then, finally, he turned over and glanced at the item that had just been delivered.

It was a plain, unmarked scroll.

Black binding encircled the parchment, and with a _snap_ Sasuke broke the waxen seal with his thumbnail. He scanned the contents, memorized them and watched as the vellum ignited and self-destructed.

Apparently, Kagome had secured a mission for them.

_He lets ashes fall from his fingertips and wishes to be rid of this place. _

…

Naruto was awoken by the sound of his front door.

Kagome trailed in, her cheeks flushed and lips chapped from the cold. She shivered into her cloak and examined Naruto with a trained eye. "Oh, sorry to wake you…" She slipped out of the pale fabric easily and crawled back into the sheets with him.

"Where were you?" Naruto demanded, sitting erect as Kagome pooled by his waist.

Her large eyes blinked. "I spoke to the Hokage about a mission."

"What mission?" Naruto snapped.

"Don't worry about it," Kagome cooed and tugged on his wrist so that he laid alongside her. Then they lay there, together. Kagome's hands were trembling on his sternum and he couldn't stop his own traveling down, traipsing over the slopes of her thighs and cupping her knobby knees.

There was a small knot of flesh on Kagome's furrowed brow and Naruto was sure this where some of her secrets lay.

"How long will you be gone?" His voice broke, her lips pursed and Naruto was quite sure that this was the place where her lies hid as well.

_She's hiding things from you…_

Naruto became unsettled at her silence and kissed those lips. Her tongue confessed in verbatim.

It was breathy and audible as they sunk their teeth into one another. The soft cushion of Kagome's lower lip trembled and Naruto nipped at it affectionately.

Kagome's eyes were scrunched tight, her entire face was a grimace as she kissed Naruto. She was going to leave him again…

Naruto stilled and cupped her face, with his claws grazing her temples, her eyelashes lapped at his cheeks. "Don't go…" He begged and his voice was so hoarse. _"Please?" _He kissed her forehead and lingered there.

"I have to, Naruto… You're getting worse," she said against his skin. "It'll only be for a little while," she promised and her hands were knotted behind his neck.

A long moment passed silently and finally he nodded against her and Kagome fell asleep once her Jinchuuriki was calmed. Naruto remained awake and as morning spilled forth eagerly, so did the whispers.

'_She'll leave, Kit. She always does. If you don't act, she won't ever come back.'_

Naruto was here and there. He was curled around a wingless angel in dawn-light and yet, standing before a demon ready to make a deal.

'Mark her…'

Naruto's eyes traveled along her, wanting her stay and let this restless night never end.

"Tell me what to do," he said to the imprisoned beast.

Fangs leered and the great Kyuubi no Yoko looked down on his container. _**"It is very simple, Kit. Give my chakra control…then, cut and let a single drop into her blood."**_

_This will correct what is not right with her…_

HoNaruto did as he was told, praying she would understand.

_I'm not the only one getting worse, Kagome-chan._

…

Noon was something foreign. It was bright and warm and no longer bitter from autumn's morning claws. Kagome groaned as she felt an ache pool into her abdomen. Kagome felt Naruto shift beside her as his hand clamped over her hipbone trailed down and along the inner of her thighs.

Kagome sighed sleepily and leaned into him. Sleeping in was just so heavenly…

It was then, Naruto ceased his ministrations and went rigid as a board.

"What?" Kagome rolled over and she felt his hand dart away frantically.

Naruto jumped up and his face was drained of color. "Shit—"

Kagome blinked groggily. "Huh?"

"Kagome, get up." Naruto was already out of bed and hovering over her with a panicked expression.

Kagome graced him with a dry look before promptly burying her face into the pillow.

"Just get up, damn it!" Naruto growled.

"_No,"_ she said in a muffled response.

Naruto looked down at his hand—

"Fuck, Kagome, you're bleeding."

It was stained dark red.

Kagome's head shot up. _"What?"_

"Look—" Naruto yanked down the covers to reveal a blotch of damp blood coating the sheets around Kagome's lower half.

They both stared at it, Naruto becoming wan as ever and about to pass out as Kagome remained transfixed.

"Wow," Kagome grunted and immediately hunched over. "That hurts for a good reason now," She muttered as her hand fisted the fabric just below her stomach.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…." Naruto began chanting and pacing like a lunatic.

"Naruto," She called.

"I shouldn't have—"

"Naruto!"

The Jinchuuriki looked up, eyes befuddled with anxiety and sun-bleached hair disheveled from nearly pulling it out. "Do you want to go to the hospital?" he rasped.

"You can't be serious?" Kagome blanched. "Do you even know what's happening?"

When Naruto remained near catatonic, Kagome just sighed.

"Naruto, this is natural. Just get Sakura, please."

Naruto blinked. "So you aren't dying?"

"_No!"_ Kagome yelled before chucking a pillow at the Jinchuuriki. "Now go!"

…

Sakura was perusing the latest toxicity reports of hospitalized ANBU when she heard the knock. Sakura already recognizing the immeasurable chakra signature at the door, sighed and continued on with blood screening statements.

"Do you want me to get it?"

"No," Sakura said as she eyed her sensei sprawled across divan and casually reading _Icha Icha_. "He'll barge in eventually if it's an emergency or go away if its not."

"Let's hope for the latter, then," Kakashi mused and tucked his nose back into the pages.

"Yes let's hope…" She turned a page of the report and scanned Subject B's synopsis. "Huh," She bit her lip. "I didn't know they injected ANBU with poisons on a monthly basis."

"Mainly Kunoichi or undercover ops," Kakashi said as his grey eye flicked down to Sakura's scanty foyer. "ANBU are subjected to many things to gain even a shred of immunity. That is why Sasuke's weakness to Genjutsu poses such a problem, it is only a matter of time before it is exploited and he gets killed for it." The knocking had turned to banging and the hinges looked like they were about to give. " Are you sure you don't want to get that?"

Sakura's face bloomed red as she whipped around and yelled down the hall. "Just come in, Baka. It's open!"

Naruto stumbled in the next moment, eyes frantic and one even darkening to a muted scarlet. "Sakura-chan!"

"Did you just wake up?" Sakura glanced over her shirtless teammate and his sleeping pants. "It's one o'clock in the afternoon!"

"Hardly the issue here, Sakura," Kakashi mandated and his eyes were hard on his student. "What's the matter, Naruto?"

Naruto swallowed. "I think… I think… I think Kagome just got her period."

Sakura's eyes landed on Naruto's fingertips. His hands were clean scrubbed but his nails, were elongated and had blood caked underneath. "What on earth were you doing with her?" Sakura screeched.

When Naruto pocketed his hands, and looked away guiltily Sakura's eyes widened to saucers.

"I think I am going to be sick…"

…

Naruto's punishment was just and fair as Sakura made him march into a well-known quick market and pickup tampons. (Even more so, when Sakura made him go in a second time due to the fact that he had gotten the wrong brand.)

Needless to say, after a good half-hour lecture about the irresponsibility of the matter and Naruto's pride had docked a few hits, the Jinchuuriki became more of a muted zombie who said 'sorry' more often than not. By the time they were back at Naruto's apartment, Kagome was barricaded in the bathroom and a fresh load of laundry had just dinged.

Sakura swatted her teammate off with Kakashi-sensei and knocked hesitantly on the bathroom door.

"Kagome-chan?" Sakura called sweetly. "It's just me, can I come in?"

"It's open," was the mumbled response and Sakura entered took this as her queue to enter.

Steam eclipsed her vision as she took a few probing steps along the tiles and set the bag of feminine products by the sink. "Can we talk?"

There was a rush of water and Kagome's form came into view. The silhouette of her face remained upturned to the ceiling as her arms framed the bathtub. "Baths always helped with the cramps," Kagome explained.

"I'm guessing this isn't your first time, then?" Sakura pried and walked forward before settling down next to the tub and bringing her knees to her chest.

Kagome shook her head and her black hair was plastered to her temples. "I've been inoculated since I was eleven."

"Inoculated?" Sakura echoed.

Droplets slipped down Kagome's neck. "Kunoichi of higher ranks go beyond common birth control, we get a shot once a year. It not only prevents pregnancy but terminates any zygote and um, halts your menstrual cycle completely." Kagome's brows raised in an exasperated expression. "Except now…"

"Doesn't really sound healthy," Sakura added.

"It's not," Kagome said simply, running a damp hand over her flushed cheeks. "I've heard a few Kunoichi have become infertile later on because of it."

"Why do it?"

Kagome shrugged. "There is not one Kunoichi in my ranks that hasn't been assaulted in some way, shape or form, Sakura. Seduction missions don't always go as planned and I know of many who have just as easily become the victim of their own targets. I never wanted that, and Konoha mandates that any illegitimate pregnancies must be terminated."

"That's just horrid."

"Not really, if a bastard child was born with a foreign Kekkei Genkai, well…" Kagome placed a wet washcloth over her eyes. "We would have another war on our hands."

Sakura stared down at the young ANBU. "Since when were you so callous?" she snapped.

The washcloth slipped into the water, Kagome's arms went rigid. "Since I was specifically told I had no chance of ever becoming a mother before I could even fathom the idea," Kagome hissed.

Sakura felt her throat constrict painfully. "He…_He said that to you_? Itachi?"

Kagome remained silent, eyes drifting to the fissures in the ceiling instead of looking Sakura straight in the eye. "_It hurts…Sakura," _Kagome rasped. " More than you know…."

"Is that why you're going so far with him? With Naruto _too_? To try and fill some voiding insecurity?"

Kagome leveled her with a look. "That's not fair."

"No, don't even start," Sakura shot back. "What's not fair is that you're breaking up my team!"

Kagome's eyes shuddered, the light dimmed to a muted grey and she was a thousand miles away.

Sakura sighed and leaned her cheek against the cool porcelain. "I'm sorry, okay… but this is hurting me too and I don't care what anyone says, I've known them for _years_. They're like my brothers, Kagome-chan and they're tearing themselves apart over you. Kakashi can't stand it, but I'm trying here, just give me a chance, Kagome-chan. Open up and maybe we can piece it back together... somehow."

"You'll just judge me." Kagome slinked down into the lukewarm waters and blew bubbles.

"Maybe," Sakura responded bluntly. "But you have to give me a chance."

A slosh of water trickled to Sakura's ears. "Fine."

The pinkette perked up. "Really?"

"Ask away," Kagome droned and laced a palm over the tub's rim. "I know you have all _sorts _of questions."

"Okay," Sakura placed a finger on her lip. "When you and Itachi were living together, did you share bed?"

Kagome snorted.

"What's so funny?"

"Sakura," Kagome cracked open an eyelid. "I haven't slept alone in _weeks_."

"_No way, _you're lying_,"_ Sakura gasped and when Kagome smirked, she smacked the little prodigy's wrist. "Kagome-chan! That's… that's _scandalous!_ What about on the mission then? Or when Itachi was away?"

Kagome's simper grew. "When we could spare it, Sasuke and I shared a bedroll when Neji took watch and Naruto was reluctant at first but caved just as easily."

Sakura gaped. "I can't believe you've all been keeping this from me! I had no idea."

"You really don't," Kagome drawled.

"So, how far has it gone?" Sakura pried and her eyes were devious. Her curiosity got the better of her.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "We've all just…" She wrinkled her nose, she hated the term. "Made out and _stuff_."

"Stuff?"

"You know!" Kagome clipped, face blooming red. _"Stuff!"_

"No, I'm afraid I don't know." Sakura's brow knitted.

"How can you not know?" Kagome deadpanned. "You're way older than me."

"Hey, only by four years," Sakura waved her finger at the little ANBU. "And I've never even been kissed, so there!"

Kagome's brow shot up. "Wow, and I thought I was naïve… well, _stuff_ includes a lot… like..." Kagome swallowed hard. "I don't think I can really explain this, can't you just go read Kakashi's _Icha Icha_?"

"I have, _thankyouverymuch_!" Sakura snubbed.

"Oh good. Then you know all that stuff before…"

"Sex, Kagome. The word is sex."

"Yes, right… well that is… the _stuff_."

Sakura's green eyes became muddled, then cleared once revelations hit. "Oh. _Oh_… oh my…oh my! Kagome-chan! That's…that is most definitely _illegal_! And crude and I can't Itachi would allow you to do that?" Sakura looked horrified.

Kagome grit her teeth. "Not that far, Sakura. I haven't done anything. I assure you." And she hardly did anything.

"Still…" Sakura's cheeks flushed. "Kagome-chan, you could all get into a lot of trouble."

Kagome waved her off. "Please, we're highly trained shinobi, if we can cover up an assassination of a daimyo then we can easily disguise a little tryst."

_What's the worst that could happen?_

"If you say so, Kagome-chan."

…

Kagome's hair was still wet by the time they met with the hospital's receptionist and still very much so by the time they were ensconced to a pastel pink waiting room. Kagome was pacing about and getting a few civilian women nervous around the anxious ANBU.

Sakura gave a nervous smile to a pregnant woman. "She's fine, _really_."

The woman huffed, and buried her nose back within her tacky magazine.

Sakura sweat-dropped, it wasn't her fault they had to go to the gynecology ward of Konoha's hospital and it definitely wasn't her fault Kagome was a bit young looking to be here. The judgment radiated off the women as Kagome displayed the same temperamental characteristics of someone who'd just peed on a stick to find it blue. When in reality, Kagome was just an early bloomer who was trying to suppress mother nature.

"Kagome-chan, why don't you take a seat?" Sakura caught the little prodigy's wrist and yanked her down with enough strength to bend iron.

Kagome buckled with little resistance, then her knee started to twitch.

"Stop it," Sakura chastised and caught the fidget with a firm grip. "What on earth are you so nervous about?"

"Nothing!" Kagome snapped. "I just hate needl—"

"Higurashi Kagome?" chimed a heavenly sweet voice from the reception desk.

"Yes?" Kagome piped, already on her feet.

"The doctor will see you now," replied the receptionist.

"Alright," Kagome skittered to the front door with Sakura in her wake.

They were led down a hall, with too many suggestive pictures of flowers and then placed within a room at the end. Kagome hopped up on the examiner's table, the paper crinkled with every tiny movement and she resumed her fidget much to Sakura's chagrin. Sakura settled herself down on a chair and hunted once more through the troves of trashy magazines.

They waited some more until a woman entered, clipboard in hand and her pale blonde hair twisted up into a bun. "Sakura?" She stilled and looked at the rosette pointedly. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh… Izumi-san!" Sakura's laugh was edgy. "Kagome-chan, this Yamanaka Izumi, Ino's mother."

"We've met," Kagome said flatly.

Yamanaka Izumi pale eyebrows shot up. "Kagome-chan? My, I haven't since you were a Chuunin…" And from the way she was iterating the fact didn't sound like it was a bad thing. "Shikaku talks about you with Inoichi and I sometimes, but I never realized you were in ANBU."

"Hard to believe I know."

"And you haven't grown even an inch."

Kagome's eyes narrowed murderously. "Thanks…"

Sakura shot up like a rocket. "Izumi-san I didn't know you were working with hospital now?" She could have sworn the woman had her own private practice.

"Well the last doctor retired recently and Konoha needs a functioning ob-gyn, so I took the job," she said simply, pale blue eyes scanning the clipboard. "You need to be inoculated again? You aren't due for another six months."

"Yes, well apparently it wore off this morning," Kagome grumbled.

"Are you sure it isn't just spotting?"

"Nope, I assure you. It looked like a massacre down there."

Unfazed, the Yamanaka scribbled down something. "Well, I'll have to run some blood screening tests before we can inoculate you again. It may take a couple of days, but I can give you a prescription in the meantime."

"That won't be necessary—" Sakura began.

"I'll be out of country on a mission by tomorrow, I need this—" She waved a hand over her pelvic regions. "To go away. I could care less about the birth control."

"Yes, well every kunoichi in ANBU is mandated to be inoculated or be on some other form of birth control, Kagome-chan." Doctor Yamanaka handed Kagome a slip of paper. "Take this to the pharmacy once your menses is over. We need to regulate you before inoculating again."

Kagome begrudgingly took the paper. "Taking a pill every day in my line of work is not practical. Just shoot me up so I can go on my mission. It's for national security for Kami's sake."

Yamanaka Izumi already had a syringe ready. "Sorry not going to happen. Now hold out your arm."

…

"I'm telling you the truth, Pinky told me!"

Itachi scanned the contents of the mission file that had just been added to the archives, no less than an hour prior. "Shimo no Kuni?" His eyes narrowed on the destination.

"Yeah, I know… Tenzo's group has been up there for months now with no leads," Shisui added, peering over the heir's shoulder to get a better look at the file. "I would know, keeping communication with them has been a bitch these last couple of weeks."

"It appears Tsunade wants Higurashi to do more than just retrieve the Wood Element user, then," Arata intoned from the door. He was keeping 'watch' as Itachi and Shisui 'borrowed' a few documents from ANBU's mission archives (which was unimpressively a dank little closet in the bowels of the Hokage tower). "Higurashi's tactical prowess would be more than capable of accomplishing this task. More so than a handful of Tokubetsu Jonin."

"Tenzo is in ANBU, dumbass," Shisui quipped at the redhead and proceeded to rummage through a cardboard box for further clues.

"His performance record is flawless but it still doesn't excuse the fact he is currently a glorified babysitter for the Jinchuuriki." Arata pulled his mask up, no longer sensing anyone patrolling the halls and was quickly lulled into conversation. "Which he is apparently shirking for this pointless mission."

"Sai is currently minding over Naruto-kun, Arata," Itachi reminded and flipped a page within the folder. "As for his pointless mission, it is far more vital then anyone can assume. Do not judge Tenzo, he has a personal vendetta to fulfill."

"Then why not send Anko?" Arata snapped, eyes sharp and focused on his Captain.

"Mitarashi-san has other duties to perform rather than spearheading a wild goose chase."

Shisui snorted. "She's been making trips to Frost country every other week if my summons have picked up anything during their rounds." He was the lead Communications Captain for a reason, and his eagles did more than deliver scrolls in a timely manner, they reiterated every little detail along the way.

Arata fell silent; he was speaking out of turn with his superiors and would have been backhanded if he hadn't been so familiar with the two ANBU Captains already.

Not two minutes later, when Shisui had found the trove of kunoichi seduction missions and Itachi was pinpointing Yamato's base camp on a map, did Taji finally pop her head in. "We got problems, Taichou."

Shisui barely suppressed a snicker at whatever he was reading about to earn a very pointed glare from the wiry kunoichi. "Long time no see, _Kuzuri_."

The yellow blotched wolverine mask slid back and Taji stuck out her tongue to the eagle. "You too, _Iguru._"

"Taji," Itachi clipped as he was perched over a map, calculating coordinates. "Where is Yuugao?"

The spunky ANBU tossed a scroll to her Captain, who caught it steadily and then said, "She is still looking into Kage's apparent sister. There is a lot of clearance she has to go through without letting him onto her trail."

"Keep her mindful," Itachi perused over the scrolls contents. "What is this?"

"What she found so far, we narrowed the girl down to Wave country and a few provinces."

Itachi's dark eyes caught a gleam of something murderous. "Apparently Kage's sister is not nearly as _dead_ as he would like everyone to believe."

Arata brought himself off the doorframe, his thoughts coinciding with his Captain's. "That is… of great use to us. Taichou."

"Yes it is. Excellent work, Taji. Commend Yuugao, as well."

Taji's let a smile split across her lips. "I thought you would be pleased, Taichou."

Shisui stilled. "You're going to exploit this aren't you?"

Itachi rose a brow. "My little brother is in the hospital due to Kage's… impulsiveness. If he thinks he may dare threaten what is precious to me, then he will leave this world, disgraced and quite prematurely."

Shunshin no Shisui swallowed hard, there was murder in the air and Itachi was getting fed up with those who were getting in his way. "Just don't let Chibs find out."

"Yuugao had some valid input as well, Taichou," Taji piped up. "Considering Kage's sister is his last tie to his previous life, then if she were to say die in a very tragic accident then what would be stopping him from holding back? He would be far more of bother if he had nothing left to lose."

"True." Itachi nodded, contemplating on this. "However I never bluff, Taji. If it comes to that, then it will and I will slit his throat without hesitation."

Every other occupant in the room felt a chill run through the room at that pledge.

Taji shook it off first. She was always the least unnerved by her Captain's cruelty. "Funny thing, I checked in on your brother, Taichou on the way here and he had expectantly checked out…"

"And…?" Shisui goaded.

"Higurashi-taichou followed by the Hokage's apprentice, checked _in_."

Itachi straightened from his stance hovering over the map and tilted his head ever slightly, his nape slipping past his shoulders and down his back. "What for?"

Taji shrugged. "I apologize, Taichou. I should have looked into it but she would have sensed me."

"Inconsequential," Itachi cut in, rolled up the map and tucked it under his armpit along with the other documents he had gathered. "Now I must find out for myself." His gait was strong and silent as he brushed past his comrades. "Taji."

"Yes, Taichou?"

"You and Yuugao are to travel to Wave country and locate Kage's sister. You have twelve hours to give me the pinpoint coordinates of her residence." In twelve hours, the Uchiha Prodigy expected no less than a picture of the girl on his desk with her street address on the back. "Extract a personal item, if you will. Something Kage will recognize and will find infallible of my knowledge."

Taji bowed before disappearing into a cloudlet of smoke and leaves.

Itachi turned to Arata. "Look into this mission… of Tenzo's. I want a summary of every possible lead they have uncovered and any other information concerning the matter."

"And the fox, Taichou?" Arata pulled his tiger mask forward. Ochre splashed along the banded cheeks. "Sai-fukutaichou has been monitoring for quite some time now. It would be far more convenient to contain him in a secure location."

"That is a discussion I will have with Tenzo, myself,_ Tora_." Itachi slipped into shadow before Arata could even utter another syllable.

The Uchiha heir stepped onto his terrace and was in the shadow of Kikyo castle in the next moment. The wind tossed about dried maple leaves and the papers tucked under his arm rustled as well. His eyes narrowed in on the slight gap in the shoji screen of his abode and he pulled down his rat mask onto his face.

Itachi crept in silently, his footfalls soundless and his mask leering with scarlet lips. Itachi's fingers slacked around the hilt of his katana when he entered the vast sitting room to reveal—

"Haruno Sakura."

–about to touch a rather costly tapestry strewn across the wall.

Said medic-nin nearly jumped out of her skin, swiveled on her heel and looked owlishly at the Uchiha heir. "Ah, heh, why hello there Itachi."

Itachi slipped of his mask, and let his hand fall to his side.

Sakura eyed his fingers clipping at the flap of his weapons pouch threateningly. "Tense?"

"Aa."

Sakura's eyes traveled along the wood floors, wishing to hear Kagome's returning footsteps. "Kagome showed me up here. I didn't break in, before you ask."

"I was not," Itachi said. He didn't expect his brother, who was in ANBU, to find this place let alone a Chuunin medic. "Though, I do wish to know why you took Kagome to the hospital."

Sakura's features paled. "That's not… really something I should be telling you, sorry."

Itachi took a step forward. "I would prefer to know the undiluted facts. Kagome has a way… of placating me."

Sakura was pinned, eyes near frantic. "Uchiha Itachi, don't you dare—"

But his Sharingan was already flaring to life, tomoe spinning and locked onto the pink-haired kunoichi. Sakura's face slacked, her eyes glassy and transfixed.

"Now, Sakura-san," Itachi took a step forward and was within arm's reach of the kunoichi, who was swaying on her feet. He caught her by the throat and held her up like puppet. "Tell me exactly why Kagome went to the hospital this morning."

Sakura's lips lifted and she giggled. "Silly, I can't tell you!" She playfully hit his chest, but her knuckles contacted with his ANBU armor instead. "Ow."

"Why not?"

"Because… it's girl stuff." Sakura's eyes went to his face and she blushed. "You're so pretty, you know that? After Sasuke-kun, I had a crush on you for the longest time, but _shhh _don't tell Shisui, okay?" Sakura's voice erupted in another onset of bubbly giggles.

Itachi let out a sigh. "Tell me," he pressed. He'd rather not induce a full hypnotism right her and now and have Kagome, or Kami forbid Shisui waltz in. "Now." He added the tiniest pressure to her carotid artery.

Sakura whimpered. "Owie, okay… Kagome-chan got her period."

Itachi sobered. "Why did she go to the hospital, then?"

"Because she's on stupid medicine…." Sakura swooned. "And she needs more and I think its Naruto's fault."

"Why?" Itachi's voice dropped low. "What led you to this conclusion?"

"Because they've been doing _stuff_…" Sakura's lips clamped shut and she giggled.

"Stuff?" he reiterated dryly.

Sakura cackled. "You know—_stuff._" Then Sakura's eyes widened to saucers. "I'm not supposed to tell you! _Shh_!" Her hands fumbled for his face, but Itachi simply leaned back.

"Sakura," Itachi clipped. "Is the Kyuubi responsible for this?"

Her nimble shoulders lifted and sagged. "I dunno."

"What are you doing?" Kagome's voice rang clear from the hallway and across the great expanse of their spartan sitting room.

Itachi promptly dispelled his Sharingan and released Sakura's throat from his grip. Sakura fainted shortly after. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Kagome marched across, footsteps resonating with a traveling pack secured on one shoulder. She stared down at the unconscious Sakura, who was smiling and babbling nonsensically. "You're taking her back now, I hope you know that."

"Shisui is bound to come barging in any moment now," Itachi sufficed, knowing any abrupt leave always brought his cousin barreling after him. Shisui would take care of the medic.

"Do I really want to know why you were interrogating her?" Kagome drawled, toeing Sakura's limp arm. "No?"

"Doubtless," Itachi replied smoothly. "How are you feeling?" His eyes roved over her, she was covered from the neck down in a formfitting bodysuit as her neko mask was pushed back to reveal an ashen complexion and tousled jet bangs. She looked a bit worn thin.

"Fine." Kagome eyed him cautiously. "Why?"

"Is it wise to go on a mission tomorrow, in your condition?"

Kagome's tired expression lifted and tightened. She bit a curse under her breath. "That's what you pried out of her?" Kagome gestured to the now drooling Sakura between them. "You're so…. Manipulative! You could have asked."

"I would have received a half-truth."

"It's not something I would like to discuss with you." Kagome averted her eyes. "I can't talk right now, I just came here to pack. _That's it."_

"Kagome," Itachi stepped around Sakura and hooked a finger under her chin. "Where are you going?"

Kagome's eyes darted up. "Don't you already know that, as well?"

Itachi tilted his head. "I am asking you, now."

Kagome readjusted her pack. "Right now, to go train—don't even think about stopping because of my _condition_. I'll get through it like every other kunoichi out there—I haven't had a decent training session in days. If I'm to be prepared to leave by tomorrow, I need to train _today_."

"You leave early tomorrow, then?"

Kagome nodded. "At dawn."

"Stay the night here, then."

Kagome shook her head. "No. Naruto needs me tonight. He's already in rough shape over this."

"Then stay." Itachi took a step forward and he was looming over her. "I can send Shisui to retrieve Tenzo by day's end."

"No," Kagome remained firm. "I have to do this myself. My life doesn't stop for you, Itachi. You're not the only important person in my life. Naruto needs _me_ to do this. I'm the one doing this to him and its only fair that I am the one to fix it."

"You cause more of a spectacle by leaving, stay—"

"Damn it, I'm leaving okay!" Kagome shot back. "And there's nothing you can say that will hold me back. You can't protect me and Sasuke all the time, Itachi. We're in ANBU, remember? We go on death defying missions all the time. You have to accept that."

Itachi's wrenched his face away from her, eyes utterly black and staring at the tapestry on the far wall. It was the scene of a battle, or of a massacre. Itachi did not know the difference. "You cannot fathom…." His voice began and it was rough with emotion and Kagome felt her whole body brought to him by a strong arm. He rested a chin on the top of her head and inhaled silently the scent of her hair. "How utterly terrified I am of losing the both of you," he whispered and his grip tightened viciously.

Kagome buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his ribs. "Then let us be strong, if not for own sake, then for yours. The more you protect us, the weaker we become," she murmured into the fabric just above his chest plate. She stepped back, after a long moment when Itachi's grip finally slacked.

_Let go…_

They stood before one another, intimately and with gazes locked. Itachi moved first, his hand reach behind and unhooking his sheathed katana.

"What are you doing?" Kagome rasped as he held out the beautiful weapon to her, open palm.

"Oil it, three times a day with this salve," he instructed as his thumb flicked open the metal tip of the pummel to reveal a hollowed out hilt and vial within. "Never let the blade come in contact with your skin, do you understand?"

"Itachi, I can't take this," she said hoarsely.

But he had already thrust it into her small hands and the sheath rattled within her unsteady grip. Itachi then dove his hand into one of the many pockets along his thigh and fished out a thick scroll that was worn and tattered on the edges. The Uchiha heir, unrolled it and much like his prized weapon, he splayed it before her on his palms.

The ancient contract had lines upon lines of dried blood streaked across the single mark. The ring of kanji held the names of prior holders all with the surname: _Uchiha_ with Itachi being the most recent and current holder of the summoning contract.

Itachi bit his thumb and placed it over his name. Once removed, his name was gone save for the small blotch of blood. "I have temporarily removed myself as the holder. Anyone who holds it within their grasp may summon at will."

"Itachi, you need these—" She feebly pushed the scroll away.

"With this scroll you have reign over my crows," Itachi assured and rolled the contract up. He tucked it into her hands alongside his katana. "Please, do not lose it."

Kagome swallowed thickly. "Why are doing this?"

A long moment passed until he spoke and his voice was light.

Kagome could have cried at his next words.

"This is my way of letting go."

_If only a little…_

…

_Because extortion is an anonymous affair…_

…

A trivet stood on top of the Hokage tower just at the cusp of dawn. The setting moon cast long shadows across the roof tiling and their words were swift. They would wait until sunup; they did not want to be caught in the light.

"He should be here." The Tiger paced, eyes glancing about.

"Patience," the Rat placated and he cast a long look to the vacant space. "He would be a fool to not show."

"Here," the Bear handed her leader a nondescript envelop. "The girl's name is Mei, and we were able to retrieve a pendant that bears Kage's fingerprints."

The Rat took it solemnly. "Very good."

The Tiger glanced up to the sky, arich cobalt lighted in the east coupled by candy pink cloudlets that knotted across. "Kuzuri is back," he announced as a figure appeared in a gust of wind.

The Wolverine slipped out of the shadows, with leaves tussling in her wake. "They just left. Has Kage shown up yet?"

The Tiger shook his head. "I thought they were supposed to leave at dawn?"

The Wolverine shrugged and strode over to her pack. "She trained all the way through the night and barely said goodbye to the Fox. Hebi and Tsuru were waiting at the gates. The Fox didn't go that far but sent her off at their doorstep."

The Rat stiffened. "Was she fit for travel?"

The Wolverine scoffed. "Hardly. She looked exhausted."

The Bear stepped towards their leader, her voice soft. "Should I go and monitor them, Taichou?"

"No, Kuma," the Rat murmured. "They are more than capable."

"Iguru is the only one who could catch up with them now, anyways," the Wolverine reminded.

"Hardly, not after finding that medic unconscious," the Tiger reminded. "He's not one for favors right now."

The Rat held up a hand and the rest of his band quieted. The cricket-song died away and just as the empty pool of moonlight was empty, it was full of shadow.

The Shadow emerged and stood before the quartet.

"You were instructed to come alone," the Bear informed the Shadow.

"They are out of earshot. You have drawn me out, Nezumi, tell me what you have found and let's be on with it." The Shadow remained still and his eyes were made of blades. "And don't let your subordinates speak for you."

"There are no words needed, Kage," the Rat handed the envelop to the Tiger, who strode over and to the Shadow.

The Shadow ripped it out of the Tiger's claws and tore through its contents. His eyes ran across the image of a girl. The picture: a meek, civilian dressed, young woman standing before a pyramid of pomegranates with a bushel of leeks tucked under her arm and three plastic bags wrung around her wrist. Ashen blonde hair was tied back and her grey eyes were wide and smiling. She was alone amongst the crowded marketplace and was so tenderly vulnerable.

Out of the envelope slipped a crude pendant bearing the mark of their home country.

The Shadow remained silent for a long, long while. "What do you want?"

"Before I answer, I must know why? Why my dear little brother?" The Rat's eyes gleamed. He had won the game and caught the uncatchable. He had cornered the Shadow.

"If your brother rises in rank, you will have a quorum within the Captains. The Uchiha are too prominent within ANBU already and your clan's _ethics_ cost lives. I will not have you elected as Captain-Commander to ruin this village." The Shadow stared at the oblong bite of wood inlayed with a spiral. "Your father patrols the city and if you were to gain control of ANBU, it would most definitely inspire a coup d'état from your already_ stifled_ clan."

"Then why not target me, Kage?" The Rat purred. "Surely you are not afraid?"

The Shadow chuckled. "Attacking you directly would be a fool's move. Same for you, if you were to dare. ANBU is split between us, Nezumi. A civil dispute would counteract any progress I would hope to make in ANBU. It is far more advantageous to target your brother to spur a resignation out of you."

"Resignation?" The Tiger echoed, pacing before the Shadow threateningly, he kept between him and his leader. "You would kill Hebi over Taichou's resignation?"

The Shadow shook his head. "I never intended on killing the boy. Everyone knows already his rank was practically served to him on a silver platter. It plants doubt with the other ANBU… it makes them question your leadership. If your brother was to be forced out of ANBU due to an unfortunate accident, your name, the _Uchiha_ name would no longer be held in such high regard."

"And this unfortunate accident…" the Rat goaded.

The Shadow smirked. "Would ensure he spent the rest of his days… _out of commission_."

"And what of Yamaneko?" the Bear spoke and her voice carried crisply over the morning air.

"What about her?" the Shadow snapped, eyes bladed and _violent._

"You know as well as I do, Kage that the girl's involvement in this correlates," the Rat said. "Now, tell me why does it upset you so, that she is associated with my brother?"

"I've heard the rumors, Nezumi," the Shadow's voice was scalding and his movements were so slight. He took a threatening step forward. The Tiger stilled his pacing and readied himself to pounce. "Your clan wishes her betrothed to that sniveling brother of yours."

"Insults are so petty," the Tiger drawled and readied himself to defend his leader.

"Remind me again, Kage. How does this affect you?" the Rat mocked.

"I've glimpsed what she is capable of, Nezumi. I know what your clan is after and I will not have you use a child as a pawn to further your plans." The Shadow paused and glanced to the mountains. A chilled gold halo was beginning to silhouette. "There, now your questions are answered. What is your threat?"

"Simple," the Rat said. "For you to cease your harassment on my brother and resign from ANBU. Then, you will have seventy-two hours to collect your sister and flee the country so that I may never hear a single utterance of your presence from this day forward."

The Shadow weighed his options. "Or you will kill her?"

The Rat nodded.

The Shadow's eyes studied the Rat. The crafty, manipulative Rat, who held sway over half of ANBU and Konoha's most powerful clan. "I call your bluff, Nezumi."

The Rat tilted his head, obviously perplexed. "Truly? You would gamble your dear imouto's life on such an assumption?"

The Shadow was unsettled, but collected himself. "No. You would with your brother's, _if_ you carried through… So, I call your bluff, Nezumi. Kill my sister and let the world see the monster you truly are."

"And the one you will become once I am done," the Rat replied genially.

"Be careful, Nezumi." the Shadow turned away, facing his back to the band of assassins to mock them. "You have no idea what I am capable of."

The Shadow disappeared into the dawn-light.

"No, Kage," the Rat murmured. "It is you who does not." The Rat beckoned the Tiger to him and then turned to the rest of followers. "Tora, Kuzuri."

"What do we do now, Taichou?" the Bear asked tentatively. She was gentle by nature but would kill for him, if he so asked.

The Rat hesitated for but a moment but looked past her. "You two. Kill the girl and be done with it."

The Wolverine shifted uncomfortably. "She's a civilian, do you want it quick?"

The Rat considered this. "No. Make a scene but leave it untraceable. This will be to send a message."

The Tiger sidled alongside his leader. "No torture? We could pry valuable information on Kage?"

The Rat waved them off, weary with the very idea. "Do what you will."

And the two predators skulked away silently with a bow to their leader before going off to the hunt.

The Bear's eyes were wide and sad. "_She_ will find out about this. Yamaneko is a smart girl."

The Rat's posture sagged. "Eventually, yes but there are many things she does not need to know."

"For her sake or yours?"

"Both," the Rat replied and raked a hand through his dark hair. "Her psyche is fragile, there are certain things that would be easier left unsaid."

"Aside from the murder of this innocent civilian, Taichou, what else are you referring to?"

"Kagome is to never know about us, Yuugao."

"It was in the past—"

And in the sharpest of voices, he said, "Just keep it to yourself, understand?"

The bear bowed her head."Of course, Taichou."

They stepped into the sunlight and disappeared into the horizon.

…

_A snake may shed its skin a thousand times, but will still die in ice..._

…

A herd of caribou trounced over the tundra plane like a wave of scampering mice below. Making the final descent of a rather jagged mountain range marked the border of Shimo no Kuni. Kagome's boots scuffed a lichen patch as she overlooked the vale. A spindly river snaked along as creatures scampered about, her eyes caught the white pelts of wolves stalking the herd as well as the gentle lope of a shaggy bear far off.

A pair of wolves singled out a calf and Kagome watched as they went for its soft underbelly and spilled it clean across the tundra for the wind to catch scent. The bear paused and watched the event unfold, the stoic creature observed the gorging wolves for a long moment until she eventually moved on as well.

Neji's Byakugan dispelled that same moment and he announced his findings. "Yamato's base camp is a visible wooden structure at the base of that glacier."

Kagome's eyes focused in, and she caught the faint blue glint of ice far off across the plane. Clouds hung low around the area and it obscured her vision, but she could barely make out a small blot of a structure before the massive wall of ice. "Good. If we move now, we can reach them within the hour."

Neji nodded and pulled his hood up, fully dispelling his identity.

"Are you ready, Hebi?" Kagome called behind.

The cloaked and scarlet masked snake was leaning against a parched boulder dejectedly. He then nodded and silently brought himself standing erect by his Captain's orders. "Hn," Hebi simply grunted.

That was all the response she was able to garner lately and from their three days of nonstop travel, Sasuke had not uttered a word to her.

Kagome brought her neko mask down to her face. They had been perched on this precipice for the better half of the hour as Neji surveyed the land but it was time to move now. "You have your orders, we are to retrieve Yamato and bring him back to Konoha. However, his current mission is still incomplete and we must assist him and the other Jonin to get him back as soon as possible."

Neji nodded and Sasuke remained utterly wordless.

"And what is their current mission, Taichou?" Neji asked.

"To kill Orochimaru's next host."

* * *

_Commander Danzo,_

_ I act on the authority of my Clan before the village and on my own principles before them. Please do not advise me to do so otherwise. As for my relationship with the Seventh Captain that is none of your concern. As for the consequences, I alone will bear them. Do not bring her into this. Konoha has far too enemies, even among their own, already. _

—_Nezumi_

* * *

**Author's Note:** oh my god. This was so, so, so, long. Please, please, please, leave a kind word If you request I will give virtual hugs in a reply:) or pretty colored eggs, whichever you prefer. Speaking of hidden little treasures—new fic from yours truly. (shamelessly advertises) _Byblis_, an alternate universe, ridiculous tale where Kagome and Gaara are twins and people are _oddly_ portrayed. Want to take part in this madness? Please, by all means go on and see! I do so love my avid fans. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and find this disgusting little creature that just pooped eggs in my yard. Horrid beast is about to be made into a pair of mittens… Did I mention my birthday was Wednesday? ~KK

**Next Chapter:** Enter Kimimaro.

* * *

_Update Schedule_

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **May 11**(Two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **May 25**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **June 29(**Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **July 27**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	27. Sound of Ice I: An Old Game

**Author's Note:** What's this? An easter bunny just pooped something glorious into your email box? Well, go on, go on! Scroll down and enjoy, you little bugger, you! ~KK

**Warnings:** Child Abuse, Language, Gore/Violence, Sexual/Adult Situations, Suicidal and other disturbing themes. (For this chapter, Itachi's tendency towards murdering little girls)

_**Rating:**_ Mature

_**Pairings:**_ Itachi/Kagome, Sasuke/Kagome, Naruto/Kagome, Shisui/Sakura, Shikamaru/Temari

_**Ages:**_

Kakashi: 30

Shisui: 23

Itachi: 20

Neji, Lee, TenTen: 17

Sasuke & Sakura: 16

Naruto: 15

Kagome: 12

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Seven~**

Sound of Ice I: An Old Game

* * *

Paul said to Peter,  
"You gotta rock yourself a little harder;  
Pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire"  
And I got a girl in the war, Paul, the only thing I know to do  
Is turn up the music and pray that she makes it through

—_Girl in the War_

* * *

"Raido. Got any threes?"

"Go fish."

"Hey Yamato, got any threes?"

"…no."

"Liar. Cough it up and you're supposed to say 'go fish'."

"Bastard." Yamato begrudgingly handed over his spade.

"Get it straight if you're gonna cheat." Shiranui Genma propped his feet on the wooden card table and leaned back in his chair of the same material. "Oi. Yamato, fire needs more wood."

Yamato sighed, splayed a palm to the guttering fire pit and let a plank of wood sprout forth. He tossed it into the embers and powdery mound of grey ash. "Can we play rummy?"

"I don't know how to play that," Namiashi Raido said and eyed his coveted hand. He glared at Genma peering over.

"I could teach you," Yamato offered.

"But I like Go Fish."

"And Old Maid," Genma added and patted the other card set. "Lay off, Yamato. He's the one who brought the cards in the first place."

"But we've been playing nothing but Go Fish and Old Maid for two months!" Yamato was dismayed and let his cards slip onto the splintering tabletop.

"We could gamble," Genma offered.

Yamato's already ashen complexion turned positively corpse-like. "Oh no. No more strip poker. It's twenty seven degrees right now." Yamato to proceeded to shiver theatrically into his flak jacket.

Genma bit down on his senbon. "That was only fun cause Anko was here. Why would we do it now?"

"To unleash your repressed homosexual tendencies?" Raido suggested amicably and sullenly put down his cards, knowing the game was over.

"I walk in on you one time—!" Genma started and the card table jostled as the Jounin leapt up.

"I think gambling is a wonderful idea." Yamato placated Genma who sat back down with a frown fixed around his senbon. "What should we bet with?"

"Canned beans," Raido suggested.

"No way, you're just trying to get in on my stash. It's not my fault neither of you know how to ration your supplies," Genma leaned back further and rolled his senbon with his tongue. "What about rooms?"

"Your room is the only one with a draft," Raido tossed a glance to the sky above. The sun was wan and brought little heat to this chilled landscape.

"Well, not my fault. Maybe we should blame the architect," Genma drawled and sent a very pointed look across the table to Yamato.

"I can build a house within a second's notice and yet will be criticized about poor insulation…" Yamato hung his head low then perked up at a realization. "How about the last bit of moonshine?"

"Now you're talking," Genma smirked and slid his feet off to sit forward.

"I don't drink."

"Shut up, Raido," Genma shot back but then stilled suddenly. "Oi, Yamato. Someone's coming."

Yamato was already standing and looking far off across the boreal terrain. The only movement he was able to detect was a herd of reindeer far off and scampering away from wolves. The sky was pale, the treeless earth was a ruddy brown with muskeg and crowberries and the thin spine of mountains that loomed overhead marked the Frost border.

It was a desolate place, with little to nothing happening once rutting season was over and Genma had stopped betting his precious beans on the winning buck. Raido's cards became more of a habit than entertainment and ten weeks living with these two with Anko being their only visitor would give anyone cabin fever.

Hence, why they played cards outside now; which was useful because it meant they were _all _technically on watch. It also didn't leave one of them alone with the mind numbing task of surveillance over the lemmings leaving the other two to stare at the ceiling.

"It's probably Anko," Genma sufficed as he felt only the slightest tremor of a presence.

"No…" Yamato shielded his eyes from the weak sunlight. He couldn't see them, but he was in ANBU before being placed with Team Seven and he knew what to look for. "It's someone else."

"They from Konoha?" Genma asked absently.

"Must be. Who else knows we're here?"

"How many?"

"Three," Raido answered.

Genma tossed a look to him. "Really? How the hell do _you_ know?"

Yamato turned to the Jounin as well and his brow knitted.

"They're behind you."

The other two Jounin whipped around in alarm and stiffened at the lethal silence the trivet of ANBU had just approached with.

Three stood, two black and one white just a few scant meters off alongside their cabin. All were cloaked with hoods up. The Captain was slight and adorned in a leering cobalt neko mask. The other two nearly dwarfed the small kunoichi, a crane mask bore pale eyes and the snake's eyelets were slivers of scarlet as a Sharingan danced beneath.

The Captain slipped her cowl down and her two subordinates mimicked her flawlessly.

Yamato's jaw slacked as he recognized the Hyuuga's unmistakable irises and the Uchiha's infamous cowlick. "Sasuke? Neji? I didn't know you two were in ANBU."

The two ANBU didn't respond, but their Captain spoke. Her voice was muffled by porcelain but it was distinctly young. "Captain Yamato?"

Yamato took a step forward at the address. "Yes, that's me," he said and his breath hung in the air like a cloudlet.

"We have been ordered by the Godaime Hokage to collect and escort you back to Konohagakure no Sato."

"Uh, there's no way he's going anywhere, kiddo," Genma said and clicked his tongue along his senbon. "We're staking out Orochimaru's next vessel."

The Captain didn't seem all too surprised. "We were told that would be so. In that case, please accept our assistance."

Yamato blinked a few times before he could speak.

"Oh thank the gods!" Genma exclaimed and stood to jog on over to the ANBU. "We've been sending requests for backup for _months_."

"Blame Uchiha Shisui for bad communication," the Captain sneered.

"Aside from that, why all of sudden has my presence become so urgent that a full ANBU squadron has been sent to fetch me?" Yamato was a bit taken back, hoping he wasn't right in thinking…

"Uzumaki Naruto is becoming unstable due to an increase in the Kyuubi's activity," the Hyuuga answered for his Captain.

The Captain sent a sharp look over her shoulder to the Crane. "Yes, and you are possibly the only one to rein him in at this point."

"Has Jiraiya-sama not been recalled?" Yamato suggested.

"He's been in Konoha for two weeks now with little progress made," the Captain admitted darkly. She glared at the ground, where her boots scuffed a few mossy pebbles. "The situation is deteriorating fast, so it is imperative that we complete your current mission as fast as possible."

"Then we can all go home?" Genma smirked, thoroughly pleased with this notion.

"Yes," the Captain assured with a slight bob of the head. "We will then escort all of you back to Konoha."

Raido was still sitting at the abandoned card table, with a hand curled under his chin and trained eye on the ANBU. "Seems a tad coincidental that Uzumaki's former academy mates are on this team…."

"Huh." Genma paused. "That is kind of odd."

"What was the cause of all of this?" Yamato asked a bit owlishly.

The Captain slipped her mask off and the Cat shifted its guise to that of a young girl. "Me."

…

Once they reached the base camp, Kagome was to yield to Captain Yamato's jurisdiction. His first order (if it could be called as such, for he said 'please') was for them to remove their masks and introduce themselves to one another. Kagome had tried to keep up some formality but Sasuke and Neji were already well acquainted with the Jounin (being of the same rank, less than a month prior) and were quickly ensconced to the cabin.

Yamato made a quick addition to the structure, which included three rooms that resembled cubbies more than sleeping quarters, along with a washroom.

"There's a water table below, so we have very, _very_ basic indoor plumbing," Yamato had said once Kagome fully unpacked her supplies among the shelves and her bedroll had been lain out.

Genma had then promptly stuck his head in. "He basically means to pop a squat outside if isn't three below zero."

"Good to know," Kagome had muttered and watched the two Jounin drift down the hall to Sasuke's and Neji's quarters. The echoes of some banter trickled down as both of her teammates were never quite talkative, especially now due to recent events.

They were given a few hours to sleep after that; three days of travel had her team a little worn out and the fact that Kagome was now exiled to her own bedroll _alone _wasn't helping matters either.

There were no windows and hence no perception of daylight or time for that matter, and just as the three nights prior, Kagome tossed and turned in a dark restless sleep. All she could do for comfort was clutch the katana she carried nowadays tightly to her chest.

There were no dreams, and she was awoken by a soft knock at her door. Nothing else was heard and Kagome could only guess it was Neji, rousing her for the briefing that was scheduled for dusk.

Kagome slipped back into her thermal that hung a little loose over her bodysuit. She kept the gloves off for now and laced up her heavier boots. Instead of the skintight footwear meant for agility, her current shoes had soles and tread and were waterproof. It took a bit more concentration to measure her footfalls, but eventually they fell silent among the wooden halls.

Kagome flicked a match to a lantern which was a simple basin of wax with a protruding wick. It was her only source of light. She walked a short distance through the halls and rounded the corner to see five men huddled around a table. Flickering shadows shone off their faces as murmurs traversed between them.

Namiashi Raido caught sight of her first; or rather he was the first one to acknowledge her. The wheal that spread from his ear, across his cheek and over the bridge of his nose caught the candlelight and made him look positively ghastly. Shiranui Genma beckoned her over with a sharp smile and a senbon between his teeth. Captain Yamato made room for her to stand alongside and even genially asked how she slept.

"Wonderful," she lied.

Neji's eyes focused in on her from across the table, but he said nothing.

Kagome didn't dare look at Sasuke. Aside from not uttering a word to her, he hadn't even let her see his face for the past few days either.

"We were just discussing exactly how our operation is at a standstill at the moment," Genma broke her train of thought.

Yes, she had assumed as much when she walked in on the three Jonin playing cards. "Go on."

"The vessel has an unusual Kekkei Genkai. It originates from an obscure province in Mizu. The clan is extinct, wiped out during an attempted coup, but somehow this individual survived and was taken in by Orochimaru," Genma handed Kagome a file from across the table. "This is everything we have gathered on his abilities so far."

Kagome let the manila folder fall open in her palms. She scanned the contents. _Full control of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, _she read. "He is able to control the formation and breakdown of his… _bones_?"

Yamato nodded. "Yes. He calls it _Shikotsumyaku_."

"You've conversed with him?" Kagome became startled.

"Oh, yeah…" Genma shuddered.

"I don't think I am understanding this right." Kagome handed Neji the file, who quickly perused the evidence as well. "Where is he now?"

"In the glacier," Raido answered simply.

"_What?"_ Kagome snapped and looked up to Yamato.

Yamato waved off his Jounin subordinate. "When we first started this mission, we followed a lead that lead us to Ta no Kuni. The Land of Rice Fields held a massive underground network that we were positive held Orochimaru."

"But the snake wasn't there," Genma interjected and his knuckles went white on the wood. "Apparently he'd been in Kawa or something."

"He was planting a plague," Kagome informed them. "It was a sick experiment to test out some new strain or something." Her eyes traveled along the wood-knots in the table until she found the tips of Sasuke's fingers, his scarred knuckles, the long incline of his wrist… but she didn't dare look up to meet his gaze. The plague in Kawa brought back bad memories.

"Yes, well…" Yamato shifted uncomfortably. "We found something or rather someone else."

"The vessel?" Kagome said dryly, not liking the expense.

"Not at first. We found a rather haughty group of Oto-nin, they called themselves the Sound Four. They near panicked when they engaged us and bolted to what was apparently a safe house."

"They lead us straight to the vessel," Raido explained. "They were just kids, really. Shame."

"And once you found the vessel?" Neji pressed.

"We attacked but with the combined efforts of the five of them against the three of us, and their Curse Marks… we were just barely able to push them back," Genma's voice had dropped low and his usual mischievous gleam had turned haunted. "They ran, not wanting the vessel to get seriously injured."

"We chased them for days," Yamato breathed wearily. "Through Oto and Yu, until we finally cornered them here—in Shimo."

"They've been in that glacier for _two months_?"

Yamato nodded. "I have Wood Clones guarding every entrance, so that they may not escape and we have fuda around this camp so they cannot locate us."

"Why not go in and eliminate them?" Neji suggested, pale eyes narrowing slightly at the file in his hands.

"You don't think we've tried?" Genma scoffed. "They're holed up in a crevasse down there and know every inch of that hunk of ice. It's like walking into a death trap."

"So far our plan has been to wait it out," Yamato said. "Their supplies must be running low at this point and starvation can make even the most levelheaded shinobi rash."

"Also, the vessel needs a fixed amount of calcium daily to maintain his Kekkei Genkai's effectiveness. He's been without a sufficient supplement for two months now," Raido explained as he flipped through the papers. "It's safe to say that his bone density has lowered significantly."

Kagome simply shook her head and the three Jonin looked at her. "So this is your plan? To wait until your target dies of scurvy?"

The Jonin exchanged a few puzzled glances and then shrugged respectively.

"How many of the Sound Four have you killed?" Kagome asked suddenly.

Genma stilled and gave a strained look to Yamato. "I told you she would figure it out."

"Three." Yamato sighed. "But it is highly classified. Their bodies are currently in our possession to be brought back to Konoha for autopsy."

"Does the Hokage know?"

The Wood Element user swallowed thickly. "As we have said, communication with Konoha has been strained as of late and if were to mention we possess bodies of those who bear Curse Marks, then our mission may be altered to bring back the bodies instead of eliminating the vessel."

"Unorthodox, however I want to see them."

"Now?"

"_Now."_

…

There was really something to commend in Yamato's ingenuity, however it was quickly overshadowed by the morbid fact that he had created a morgue in the same manner a boy scout would construct a campfire.

Underneath their cabin, deep in the earth, was a room that was dank and utterly cold. By the flickering light, Kagome was led past chunks of chiseled ice that were stacked along the walls and encircling a table, where three still forms laid across.

There was no complimentary sheet to fall over the corpses or a mortician's handy work to clean up the gore; just the slacked, blood spattered expressions and grey mottled flesh.

Yamato and her were alone. She watched as the former ANBU Captain set down his lantern by a corpses' head to reveal a feminine face with teal lips and a grey mop of hair. Kagome stepped closer to examine. Upon closer inspection, Kagome noticed an unnatural twisting of the limbs.

"This one was a Siamese twin that Orochimaru had experimented on. The lesser twin was able to fully absorb himself into his brother and then grow out at will."

Kagome stood just inches before the mutated shinobi. "This is perverse."

"You should have seen him with his Curse Mark activated fully…" Yamato walked over to the other two corpses. "This one was not as bad… unless you have arachnophobia or dislike people with extra sets of limbs."

Kagome didn't dare look at the other two. "What about that last one?" She simply focused her gaze on the sheen of ice, and breathed through her mouth. The smell was starting to get to her.

"He was just an ogre," and from Yamato's tone, he wasn't being metaphorical.

"What about the forth?"

"She's alive," Yamato's voice wavered. "We hear her at night…"

Kagome's stormy eyes glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"She has this flute that controls… these beasts."

Kagome raised a brow. "What? Like demons?"

"We don't know…"

"I see," Kagome's eyes darted down and in the darkness of ice and corpses, she began to _think. _"Seal the corpses up and give them to me by dawn. We'll meet then to discuss strategy."

…

Genma had provided her a full layout of the glacier's crevasses and the self-made inlets by the Oto-nin and Raido had elaborated on the vessel's Kekkei Genkai and the demonic flute player. By the time Kagome had sequestered herself to her quarters, she was heavily exhausted and unsettled.

Kagome splayed the map of the glacier on the floor before her sleeping mat and fished Itachi's katana out of the covers. She flipped the metal casing open and let a vial fall out of the hollowed out hilt. She shut it again with a _clink_ and then uncorked the salve, doused a cloth and then ran it along the naked blade.

She memorized the glacier's tunnel network as she oiled the blade, being mindful never to let it touch her skin. Kagome then wondered, what would Itachi say if he knew she was sleeping with his highly poisonous weapon like a teddy bear?

A resonant knock interrupted her thoughts and she sheathed the katana before Neji entered.

He had somehow jammed his clan robes into that small pack of his and was now wearing the miraculously wrinkleless clothing as casually as his ANBU attire.

"What is it, Neji?" Kagome asked softly, reverently placing the blade in her lap. Apparently they both had their sentiments.

Neji took her calling him by his name and not his moniker as a welcome sign. He knelt before her, glanced down at the vellum splayed and lit by candlelight and then said, "I am concerned about tomorrow's battle."

Kagome raised a brow. "The odds are heavily in our favor, I assure you." The Oto-nin were unnatural foes but were anything but immortal. "Yamato is technically an ANBU officer if that alleviates your concern."

The regal Hyuuga shook his head. "It is not that, Kagome-sama."

"Then what else?"

"As a team we have never… engaged a foe before. Tomorrow will be a turning point for us all."

It was true. If they failed tomorrow then their team would be dissembled so that they were partnered with those more compatible in combat. "Yes, however we were all placed on a team together due to the high chance of that _not _occurring."

"Then it is crucial that all discrepancies be resolved prior to combat, so that nothing may hinder us as a team."

Kagome's eyes sharpened, shadows dancing over her face. "What are you saying, Neji?"

"That your…_ disagreement_ with Uchiha should be resolved."

"Neji, that is hardly any of your business—"

The Hyuuga held up a hand to quiet her. "Keep in mind that no matter how small, the slightest doubt in one's comrades can cost lives."

Kagome's lips settled into a firm line and she was about to defend herself, when Neji simply stood and left. Kagome only watched the pale silk of his departing back and was left alone with only the comfort of Itachi's katana in her grip.

Kagome sat there for a long while, listening to soft pops of her lantern but before she could second guess herself, Kagome stood, marched across her room and down the dark hallway.

Sasuke's room was at the far end and she was banging on it with one hand and Itachi's katana in the other.

The door snapped open.

"What?" Sasuke drawled, but stiffened when his eyes landed on her.

Kagome could barely make out the outline of his shoulder blades but his Sharingan glowed like a scorched ruby. Sasuke promptly closed the door—

Only to have Kagome jam her boot in the doorway. The wood split under the force of both ANBU and their gazes locked for a dangerous moment.

The very depths of the ocean clashed with the bloodiest of hearts.

"We need to talk," Kagome growled.

"Last time you said that, you humiliated me," Sasuke said so utterly low and the flames tossed over the planes of his face. "I am _sick_ of your apologies."

"Then it's a good thing that I'm not here to apologize," Kagome smirked. "Now let me in or I swear to god, I'll break down this fucking door."

Sasuke's grip slackened suddenly and sent Kagome stumbling forward into his room. "Make it quick," he said coldly and walked over to the self contained fire pit that licked at the wood below but left no burns.

Kagome felt an immediate warmth flood through her. Apparently being a Fire Element user had its advantages. "Tomorrow we fight for real. It will be no training exercise or spar or Genjutsu. Tomorrow I need you focused. I need to make sure that when our lives are in each other's hands, there will be no second thoughts."

The Uchiha leant against the wall, his red eyes staring out at her and the ember-glow illuminating his skin in muted ochre. He didn't speak for minutes at a time and Kagome grew disquieted. "You come here… and…" Sasuke was seething. His expression had cooled completely but his eyes were of fire and brimstone. "Accuse me of something I have yet to commit?"

"Sasuke, you know I didn't mean it like that. Don't blow this out of proportion."

"And what was your worst case scenario Kagome? That I let you get your throat slit? Or captured by the enemy?" Sasuke's jaw locked. "Tch." He had thought she had more faith in him…more trust.

"Sasuke!" Kagome exclaimed, because all she wanted to do was…. "What I'm most afraid of is that I'll give you an order and you won't listen! I'm terrified that you'll second guess me and get yourself killed." She took a hesitant step forward. "I have so much trust in you, that I'm scared you'll cast your wellbeing aside for me."

Something snapped in those red eyes of his. "Get out…"

"Sasuke, I—"

"Get out!" he snarled and took a threatening step forward, with a hand raised to strike—

"S-Sasuke?" Kagome's eyes widened, her eyes pale and innocent. Itachi's katana was limp in her grasp.

Sasuke's hand twitched in the air before falling just as useless to the side. "Just go…" he muttered, his voice dead and eyes a slate grey now.

Kagome took several steps backward, shocked at the motion Sasuke had just enacted.

It wasn't until she was alone in the dark, with Itachi's katana clutched to her chest did she wonder…

_Would Sasuke ever hurt me?_

And far off, a flute played a haunted dirge, marking death and being her answer.

…

Neji found his Captain up first and outside, just a few scant minutes before daybreak at the base of an outcropping. The tundra sprawled out before her and was lit in a dusty blue haze of yet another frosty morning.

She was wearing the bare minimum for the cold, shirking her cloak and thermal for just her formfitting coverall. Her back was to him and she was a slight black shadow amongst the landscape. His eyes lingered on the striking katana strapped to her back.

The glacier loomed ahead, resembling a tsunami of ice just about to crash down on them. The sun was budding on the rim but its sunlight was weak against the shadow of the glacier.

Kagome turned to him, eyes wavering with shadows of her own. "Ohayo," she whispered.

"Kagome-sama," he greeted and pulled back his mask. Kagome had instructed him and Uchiha to wear their masks at all times during combat, no matter what the other Jounin said. "I imagine you did not sleep well."

Kagome's lips split into a simper. "No… I did not." She glanced down to her boots; laying in the peat was a scroll splayed before their toes. "I've been spending the last hour pinpointing that infernal flute player."

Neji hooked his fingers beneath his chin. "And using Uchiha Itachi's summoning contract is helping in this matter?" he commented on the ancient parchment laying precariously in the dirt.

"It's no longer his, technically… for the moment at least." Kagome tilted her head up to him. "It's sort of on loan."

Neji's brows shot up. "How… generous."

"Yes… now if only I had a Sharingan I would be able to see what the crows are seeing," she mumbled to herself. "It does not matter—ah, here he comes." Kagome's eyes darted to the sky and sure enough a small flutter of black glided towards them.

Kagome held out her arm and in the next moment, the avian creature descended in a graceful arc, with leathery talons outstretched to the kunoichi's waiting perch.

Neji took an unconscious step back from the crow as it cawed hoarsely and flapped its wings. It was slightly smaller than expected, but its wingspan was quite impressive for its body.

"Ah, hello, little one," Kagome cooed and stroked its sleek black crown. "Did you find her?"

The crow let out a gurgled sound from the back of its throat and Kagome promptly fed it something in praise.

"Good, now you can go. I need to summon your big brother," Kagome chirped.

The crow nuzzled at Kagome's chin before disappearing in a cloudlet of smoke.

Neji didn't like the sound of 'big brother.'

Kagome kneeled before the scroll, her fingers grazing the ring of kanji before biting her thumb and dragging it across the same mark where hundreds upon hundreds of red-brown streaks were caked on.

Smoke flooded Neji's vision and when it cleared, a bird the size of a goat stood on the scroll.

"Tengu, right?" Kagome greeted and quirked her head at the massive raven.

A shuffle of feathers and the bird turned to face the little ANBU. Its impressive plumes were utterly black, save for the slightest sheen of green and cobalt. _"Yes,"_ was the softest of replies. _"Where is Itachi-danna?"_ Its voice was smooth, in fact its beak didn't even move.

It was then Neji noticed: its right eye was a Sharingan.

"He's not here, my name is Kagome—"

The bird startled and flapped its wings violently in place. _"I know of you." _Tengu replied once he quieted. "_Itachi-danna speaks of you_."

Kagome's hands cupped her knees. "Oh, good. Then could you assist me?"

The crow nodded.

"When I call for you, can you fly me up to the top of that glacier?" Kagome asked politely. "Is that possible? I'll be vulnerable to attack if I climb it."

"_My true size is ten times of this current form_," Tengu informed her and stepped off the summoning scroll to look up at the looming wall of ice. Its talons were spindly but scraped against the rock. "_Until you call who should I be monitoring?_"

"A girl. I believe she's on top of the glacier. She plays a flute that controls Doki. Be mindful of her attacks when you hear it," Kagome stood. "But she's hardly any threat against you. Just keep high off the ground and an eye on her."

The raven hopped on a rotted timber and unconsciously scraped at it with its talons. _"Is that all?"_ Tengu asked before stretching his wings to an impressive breadth that fanned out each ebony feather.

"Oh, wait," Kagome said as the summon was about to take flight. "Can you use fire?"

The crow nodded.

"And you're sensitive to Genjutsu?"

"_I am immune to it, Kagome-danna,_" Tengu said and with a gallant swoop, was gliding just above the earth before meeting the base of the glacier and soaring up and over and into the sunlight.

Kagome turned back to Neji. "Good, now that the flute player is taken care of we can start talking strategy on how to lure out the vessel."

Neji pulled his mask down, with an affirmative nod.

"Wow, how long have you guys been up?" Genma called from the cabin door as Yamato strode ahead and Raido shuffled past him.

"Quite awhile," Kagome said as the three Jounin tumbled out of the cabin. Kagome dropped to the ground and rolled up the summoning contract to place in her weapons pouch. "Ohayo, Yamato-taichou, Raido, Genma," she greeted them as they circled around her and Neji. "Where's Sasuke?" she looked past them and to the empty doorway.

Yamato scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sasuke-kun has never been known as a morning person…"

Kagome's face flushed. "Neji. Get him. _Now."_ Her voice was strung tight. Sasuke was embarrassing her so much so that she didn't even bother with Neji's codename.

The Hyuuga begrudgingly marched back to the cabin to fetch their grumpy teammate.

Yamato shifted uneasily on his feet, then handed her a slim scroll wrapped in teal twine. "Um, here is what you asked for last night."

Kagome took it silently and disappeared after that.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Genma chipped and Kagome took this as her queue to unroll the map of the glacier he had given her the night prior.

"It's a tad basic but it will suffice," Kagome started and all four knelt down to examine the marks she had made on the map. "We have a rarity in our profession as shinobi. We have too much manpower and overcompensation can be just as dangerous as its counterpart." When all three Jounin nodded at this, she continued. "As such, our main focus is to keep each battle separate and contained. Which will be tricky considering the vessel is within the glacier and the remaining kunoichi of this 'Sound Four' is on top. So we have to draw one out and keep the other in place."

"They're separated?" Genma asked.

Kagome nodded and smoothed out the map. "I have a feeling camaraderie is not highly valued with Oto-nin. In fact I'm positive they've even tried to kill each other."

"How do you know this?" Yamato queried as his eyes narrowed at the map.

"I've had crows report back that she's injured and not any little scrape from a fall either. She's been attacked and is bleeding heavily across the ice."

Genma smirked and his senbon clinked against his teeth. "All the more easily the prey, then."

Kagome seemed to grimace at the cruel comment. "In any case, its my suggestion that we capture one, if not both of them alive."

A few moments of contemplation passed, until Yamato nodded. "If possible, the information that could be potentially extracted would be priceless."

"Good," Kagome seemed reassured. "Now to draw out the vessel and to keep the flute player contained, I need a barrier of some sort as well as the glacier flooded. However, drowning the vessel would be counterproductive and there's a high chance of us not being able to retrieve the body." Or it could be damaged and any future autopsy would be compromised. "So the water must introduced gradually, and I'll have Sasuke send his Lightning Element to use the water as a conductor."

Raido casually raised his hand. "Lightning is my Element as well."

"Perfect," Kagome said. "Then you'll keep the current going so that the vessel cannot retreat back into the glacier and Sasuke may engage him."

Genma also raised his hand, albeit with more enthusiasm. "So… this _barrier_, am I right in assuming we all agree its going to be Yamato with a giant wood wall?"

Kagome shrugged. "Unless you have another suggestion."

"No, just wondering… and am I right in assuming you want him to flood the three thousand square mile glacier as well?"

Kagome looked at Yamato who remained silent for a long moment.

"It is… a little much to expect," Yamato conceded.

"Water is my Element, Yamato. I'll be assisting with the flooding before engaging the flute player," Kagome said and the Wood Element user seemed to relax greatly. "Just maintain the barrier and the water should remain in place."

Yamato nodded. "I can do that, although I will need to dispel my Wood Clones to have enough chakra." That left certain areas unguarded.

"That's where Genma comes in."

"Yay."

Kagome sent said Jounin a flat, unamused look. "You'll be keeping watch as Raido and Yamato will be busy maintaining their Elements."

Genma's smirked dimmed. "That's… utterly boring."

"Not when Orochimaru shows up to save his vessel," Raido quipped.

Kagome stiffened. "And let's pray that he does not."

"He won't," Genma said a little too lightly. "Last I heard Kage's group chased him all the way to Suna."

Kagome shook off the unnerving comments. "With your roles secure, my team and I will engage and detain the targets."

The whine of wood caught their ears and out came Kagome's teammates. Sasuke's snake mask was pulled roughly over his face, but Kagome caught a glimpse of his foul expression. The Jounin scattered slightly to discuss their own matters as the two ANBU approached and knelt by their Captain.

They did not speak, just listened to her words and let their own go unsaid.

"You two will engage the vessel until I have captured the flute player. We're taking them alive, so try to just stall until I reach you." Kagome sent both of her teammates a hard look, meeting each of their eyes from behind their masks. "Hebi you're working with Raido to draw him out. Tsuru you are to engage him immediately. He's Taijutsu based and uses his own bones as swords so don't worry about disarming him. Once Hebi joins the fray, keep the dismemberment to a low point, please. If anything we should have him in one piece and to Konoha within three days' time." Kagome stood and they mimicked her flawlessly. "Is that understood?"

The two ANBU nodded.

"Good," and she walked away, feeling confident in her plan.

But like all good plans, something was always bound to go wrong.

…

_Ox. Horse. Bird. Rat. Tiger. __Dog.__ Tiger. Snake. Ox. Ram. Snake. Boar. Ram._

"_Suiton: Tsunami!" _

Two figures stood on top a glassy mere with hands moving in seamless unison, their mouths uttering the same syllables as the waters trembled in front of their feet before roaring up into the sky.

Yamato and Kagome kept their hand seals still as they stayed the mountainous wall of water. The column wavered slightly before rocketing towards the glacier just a few meters away.

Kagome felt sweat bead on her brow. She'd never worked with so much water before. "There's not enough," she gritted and watched as the wave roared across and lapped at the base of the glacier before spilling into the fjord. The dark waters roared and hunks of ice fractured off.

"Keep it flowing," Yamato ordered and broke the hand seal, leaving three million gallons of melted ice in her control. "Raido! Sasuke! Now!"

Two blurs shot forward, running along the shoreline and meeting the waves head on. Kagome caught a glimpse of black before Sasuke's chokuto glinted in the sunlight and then blinded her with a fractured white light that sparked and hissed across the waters. Raido paused completely before summoning his element from his throat and expelling a frightening orb of lightning from his mouth.

Kagome broke her hand seal the moment before the sparks touched the water and back flipped away from the draining lake. "Neji!" she called and the Hyuuga was already darting up the glacier's face.

Yamato's hands fell into sync: _Bird. Hare. Serpent._ _"Mokuton: Jukai Heki!"_

Twisted little fingers of wood sprouted before the raging currents of water and ice and knotted into themselves, becoming a gnarled fence of impenetrable wood. The mottled shadow of the contorted barrier rose high and completely obscured their view of the glacier before spreading out and encircling the glacier and those within.

Everything grew silent, save for the muted roar of an ocean on the other side and the last creaks of knotting wood that became watertight.

Yamato settled himself and maintained his hand sign.

"Neji, Sasuke and Raido are in." Kagome's boots scuttled over the pebbled beach of the once brimming lake. She clapped a hand over Yamato's shoulder. "Keep the water in, Genma is already up top placing explosive tags."

Yamato nodded and she could see her warped reflection in his faceplate. "Good luck."

Kagome pulled her neko mask down, and unsheathed the katana strapped to her back. "Thanks," she said before hooking her fingers between her lips which elicited a shrill whistle.

In the next breath, a blur of black feathers swooped down and she was gone.

…

The glacier's sunlit surface was blinding as Kagome's eyes scoured the pale firmament below. Itachi's katana remained naked and close to her thigh as she rode Tengu. The massive crow had tripled in breadth and she sat mounted right at the base of his neck.

Her freehand held tightly onto a tuft of feathers as they glided above the ice. "There," Kagome called over the wind and pointed the blade straight ahead. "Don't land, just descend so I can jump!"

The crow obeyed and dipped down in a smooth movement. The ground raced below them as they neared their target.

Faintly, Kagome heard the far off melody of flute before she flipped off the back of the raven and landed in a crouch, blade poised.

And that's precisely when the flute-song stopped.

"And here I thought I'd be facing the famous Uchiha Itachi," drawled a feminine voice. "I saw his crows hovering nearby… guess it was just you."

Kagome's mask snapped up and she tightened her grip on the katana, ready to pounce. She didn't respond.

Three meters of ice and a jagged crevasse separated her and the kunoichi.

"What are you, his sister?"

The willowy Oto-nin grasped her side in a grimace, letting the flute fall slack to her thigh. Her eyes were defiant, dark and resembled as much a cornered bobcat then anything else. Her hair was a dry copper, in thick straight strands draped down her back and in stubborn bangs that stuck to her forehead. Her robes were a soft fawn, accompanied by jet-black leggings and a twisted obi, that resembled a plaited purple rope.

Blood seeped from the kunoichi's ribs, stained her robes and trickled to the ground by her sandals.

Kagome caught the first glimpses of frostbite on her toes. The Oto-nin had been exposed to the elements far too long.

"You mute, bitch?" the Flute-player snarled and her grip on that accursed weapon of hers tightened.

Kagome remained absolutely silent, her leering mask being the perfect goad and ultimate shield to her taut expression. _How to do this, without killing her?_ She thought and weighed her options. The girl's condition was deteriorating – even a genetically altered shinobi could survive only for so long on the tundra's long nights.

"Tch," the Flute-player let go of her wound and her palm was crusted brown as she brushed her fingertips along her instrument before bringing it to her lips. "I won't be taken lightly, not by some ANBU runt. Now listen well, Konoha-nin, because it's the last thing you will hear…"

A rasping melody sprang forth and the Flute-player's fingers danced over the knotholes in the changing tones.

The slightest tremble below the ice was Kagome's only warning.

The surface beneath her feet exploded in deafening _cracks_ as Kagome leapt into the air to avoid impact. She flipped in a fluid arc to avoid the massive creature that had just sprung up and landed before it in the same crouch as before.

Kagome looked up, only to come face to face with a demon.

It resembled an ogre in its musculature, with a scarred cranium and bandages over the eyes; it was apparent this creature had been butchered. Saliva dripped from its gaping jaw and its hulking arms were bound with wooden barbs strapped to the knuckles. They were weapons of crude make and resembled claws.

"This is one of my Doki. Master Orochimaru gave them to me, you see," the Flute-player sneered against her demonic instrument. "They're demons and are completely under my control."

"Not if you keep on talking," Kagome shot back and launched forward in a blinding blur. She rushed under the Doki's legs and darted up its contorted spine. With a backward slice, Kagome slipped the katana between the shoulder blade and severed the tendons with crisp _snaps._ The flesh itself split like butter until the bone gave way and the arm fell to the ground.

Little blood spilled, Kagome saw just the visible tubes of dead veins and arteries where the blood had long since stopped flowing.

Kagome leapt over its howling head and back down to cast a withering look to the pathetic creature. Its dismembered appendage lay on the ground steaming, the inner flesh bleeding sluggishly. "Your precious demon is nothing more than a mutilated corpse," Kagome called back.

The Flute-player seethed and forced another melody through the flute. The ogre quieted before hurling its massive body at the petite ANBU.

Kagome simply sidestepped and the beast went crashing into the sharp ice, crushing its face. "Your _Master_ gave you a failed experiment. That_ thing_—" Kagome pointed the blood smeared blade at the thrashing one armed creature. "—is the lowest class of demon."

The Flute-player's response was yet another ragged melody, causing the ice to rumble once more and the silent tundra shudder as two more figures leapt up from the ice fissure.

The other two were even more disfigured than the first. One was completely stripped of extremities on its torso as its head was twisted upward with tongue lolling and cranium pinned with senbon. The other was hunched over and its face was completely obscured by a flaccid mop of hair, but it carried a hefty iron mace that was the size of Kagome.

Kagome sighed and dodged the duo of creatures as they hurtled towards her. It wasn't that they were slow, by no means; it was the fact that they were so _loud._

So Kagome darted in and out of the fray until the ogre joined in as well as she was forced to sever its_ other_ arm. Kagome cast a quick glance to the prior dismemberment, and saw that was nearly reduced to bone by now.

_Kami, what kind of poison does Itachi have on his sword? _Kagome thought as she glanced down on the rimed blade. The blood was thick and dark and resembled more of a congealed sludge than a life fluid. The blade met the blunt force of a mace in the next moment and groaned in protest.

Kagome flickered out of sight and into a Shunshin, knowing the katana would break if she tested it against the Doki's heavy weaponry.

The melody of the flute rang in her ears as she whittled down the Doki to limbless bits of flesh.

Decayed matter was scattered across the frosted battlefield, _twitching._

"Give it up," Kagome said as she kicked in the face of the mace-wielding zombie with her steel toed boot. "They're corpses and now they're not even that."

The Flute-player paused. "They never die. They're demons!"

"Hn," Kagome shook her head. "You have parasitic demons under your control that have been trained like a dog to a whistle. Hardly worth mentioning, let alone bragging about."

"It doesn't matter, they're still demons!"

"No… they're corpses, watch," Kagome flicked her wrist, shirking most of the dead blood off of Itachi's katana and onto the ice with rest of the fetid body parts. She slipped the sword into its ornate sheath before facing the Flute-player and taking several steps back from the epicenter of the massacre.

And oh so softly, she whispered, _"Shikabane no Mai."_

_Dance of the Dead. _

The three botched Doki stumbled to their feet and stood against their mistress.

The Flute-player's eyes widened, malice was chased far, far away by fear. "W-What is this? They're _mine_! Stop this at once, you… you _witch_!"

Kagome shrugged and idly outstretched her hand towards the Oto-nin. "I've been called worse. Now be quick, I don't have my fan and things always get messy when I don't."

The Flute-player frantically blew into her instrument, fumbling for a melody.

"That won't work," Kagome said dryly and her index finger twitched, causing the mace-wielding Doki to jostle a few paces and swing his weapon. "My Wind Element is controlling them now."

"Tch, that's what you think."

That was the exact moment the Oto-nin took her precious flute and snapped it in _half._

Kagome barely motioned for the creatures to launch forward but instead they grew utterly still. A sparse moment passed where nothing happened, until the Doki let out bloodcurdling howls and scraped at their throats.

"What did you do?" Kagome asked casually above the clamor, more annoyed than anything.

"They're no longer under anyone's control now," the Flute-player sneered.

And that's when the Doki lurched and the demons that had once resided in their gullets were spewed onto the ice.

The Flute-player jogged over to the crevasse, casting a look deep within, her brows furrowing at the sight of rushing ice water crackling with electricity blocking her escape.

"Oh, now that's disgusting," Kagome muttered to herself with a wrinkled nose as the grey sluggish parasites slithered onto the ground and arched their eyeless heads. "I wouldn't try it," Kagome advised as she leapt over the crevasse and walked unflinchingly towards the cornered Oto-nin. "You won't last if you so much as dip a toe into that water and your demons are useless without a host."

"No they're not! They'll burrow themselves deep into your belly and you'll become my next puppet!" the Flute-player cackled but it died out when her body seized in pain and she clutched her bleeding side. The Oto-nin hacked a gargled cough.

Kagome cast a dry look to pathetic slug-like creatures across the ice fissure and flicked the air with her fingertips. A current of Wind chakra screeched forth, splintered the teetering chunk of floe that held the parasites and tumbled down to the glacier's depths. Electricity shrieked and enveloped the creatures in its blinding death embrace. "Looks like you don't have much longer," Kagome mused, seeing how the Oto-nin's main weapon was now killed.

"Shut… Shut up, you witch," the Flute-player sank to her knees, her hands trembling against her side, blood trickling hot onto the snow's blue-white surface. Her body was shutting down, she'd been without sufficient nutrition for months and that last bout of chakra was the very last of her reserves.

Kagome strode over, her boots scuffing along the frost and knelt down in front of the kunoichi. "What's your name?" she asked quietly.

The Oto-nin's eyes widened, they were a muddy amber.

"Don't try to play tough, you're weak. If you could, you would have activated your Curse Mark," Kagome pulled back her mask and her ivory features were as pure as the snow around them. Her eyes were a crystalline, fresh blue. "But that would have killed you in this state, wouldn't it?"

"You're… you're just a kid!"

"So are you," Kagome quipped. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," the Flute-player muttered, and grimaced as her side was split. "My… my name's Tayuya."

"Pretty," Kagome replied and sent a glimpse over her shoulder and across the sunlit arctic landscape. "Listen, my teammates are attacking the vessel as we speak and your knowledge—"

"Forget it!" Tayuya hissed and her teeth bit into her lower lip viciously. "You might as well kill me!"

"That's pointless; if you cooperate it will help your case when we go back to Konoha."

Tayuya promptly _spat_ in Kagome's face.

Kagome's expression withered as she wiped the saliva and blood from her cheek. "You're making it _real _difficult to be merciful right now…" she warned. "You are as good as dead if you stay. You think Orochimaru will rescue you? Look around—" she gestured to the barren tundra. "He's not coming, you've been here, alone, starving, frostbitten and _injured_ for _two months. _Your death will be pointless and excruciating. So just be reasonable and come with me, _willingly_."

"Tch, as if you know anything. Konoha would lock me up in a room the size of a cardboard box and let me piss and eat in it for the rest of my life."

"I never said I could guarantee anything, but Konoha has a reputation of being a bit more… _favorable_ to those who supply them with information on one of their most wanted men in the Bingo books."

Tayuya's eyes wandered past the small girl kneeling beside her and went thousands of miles away, wondering where her master was. She tried to envision him on the run in parched deserts while she remained here in this frozen hell, numb and bleeding.

Just when Kagome thought she had broken through a gurgled cackle erupted from Tayuya's slim throat.

"What's so funny?" Kagome immediately stood.

Blood smeared over Tayuya's teeth as she grinned maniacally. "Its makes so much sense now. Why didn't I realize it before?"

Kagome's lips frowned into a thin bloodless line.

"Tell me, witch, has Uchiha Itachi been killed yet?"

Kagome felt the veins swimming in her flesh freeze and she barely noticed the glint of a kunai—

"Now, you're going to die, witch and you won't be able to save him," Tayuya's eyes were of demons and of blades and sung Itachi's death knell.

The kunai sprouted in Kagome's thigh and she reeled back with a quick clutch to rip it out. A strangled grunt and the gore-covered weapon clattered across the ice with a red trail.

Blood spilled from the wound like water.

_Red as roses, soft as velvet, warm as milk…_

Kagome's white hands trembled to staunch the flow.

_Too fast, too fast… I'm bleeding too fast, too fast…_

Kagome's heart soared to her ears then quieted to a slow, rhythmic beat.

"But not before Kimimaro kills that brat brother of his first."

All thoughts of mercy were chased far, far away.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm free! Thank god almighty I am free at last! Senior year = success. Now I have… -gasp- _free time? _Lovely, I know. Props to Inevitably Insane for betaing within record time! Oh and the update time has been shortened:) _**Weekly updates**_? I think, yes. ~KK

**Next Chapter**: A battle of epic proportions! (Not really…) Kagome is a spitfire on the battlefield when it comes to protecting others and Kyuubi's chakra in her veins is definitely not helping matters…

* * *

_Update Schedule_

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **June 1**(One week)

45+= _Wednesday_, **June 22**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **July 20(**Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **August 17**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	28. Sound of Ice II: Storms of Two Brothers

**Author's Note:** I just got back to the US last night and am extremely sick. So sorry for the delay but last night was my first night of real sleep in a week and had been up for 48+ hours… ~KK

**Beta'd:** Inevitably Insane & Nameless Fable

* * *

_The Sound of Ice __II__: __Storms of Two Brothers_

* * *

Because the keys to the kingdom got locked inside . . .  
And the angels fly around in there, but we can't see them  
And I gotta girl in the war, Paul, I know that they can hear me yell  
If they can't find a way to help, they can go to Hell  
If they can't find a way to help her, they can go to Hell

—_Girl in the War_

* * *

_Blood spilled from the wound like water._

_Red as roses, soft as velvet, warm as milk…_

_Kagome's white hands trembled to staunch the flow._

_Too fast, too fast… I'm bleeding too fast, too fast… _

_Kagome's heart soared to her ears eliciting a rioting, frantic beat._

"_But not before Kimimaro kills that brat brother of his first."_

_All thoughts of mercy were chased far, far away._

* * *

Kagome's hand shot out like a Death God's vise. Bone white fingers, skeletal wrist, gored knuckles, blasted across Tayuya's vision before she was throttled and her skull rattled against the ice.

"Tell me everything," hissed Kagome's bloodless lips and her eyes were dark, baked sapphires in a volcanic fissure. "Or I skin you alive to be sent back to Konoha, where you will live a very, very long and miserable life."

Tayuya smirked despite Kagome's firm grip on her throat. "There's no way you'll last… that kunai was coated with the most potent anticoagulant Orochimaru-sama was able to develop. Not even you ANBU are immune to it."

Kagome saw spots on the rim of her vision. She didn't have much time. "You have three seconds."

Tayuya spat in the bleeding prodigy's face again.

Kagome's eyes narrowed murderously with a violent haze and with a buzz of chakra, a strip of flesh peeled from Tayuya's cheek and the warm tissue steamed in the chilled air. Tayuya's eyes widened to saucers but her resolve remained true. "You won't."

Another hum of chakra and Tayuya felt a piercing chill glance her forearm. Her eyes darted down to the gleaming muscle and pristine white knob of her wrist bone before it flushed violently with blood.

Kagome's nails scraped at Tayuya's jugular when she released the Flute-player, and the ANBU stood. Kagome stumbled on her feet and her pants were gleaming dark as she stood in a pool of lifeblood. The ANBU's hands went to her thigh, the flow trickled to a halt and the once meaty wound was now a bloodied uncut patch of skin.

"I-Impossible!" Tayuya spat. "Orochimaru-sama told me it was resistant to medical Ninjutsu!"

Kagome grimaced, feeling a thin flame rush under her skin; she may have healed that wound but any contusion she had received earlier would have become affected by the anticoagulant by now. Kagome was hemorrhaging and the internal bleeding was too widespread to pinpoint…

She couldn't heal it.

Tayuya's tanned features twisted into a fearful expression as she did the only thing she could—

She ran.

"Don't even think about it," said the disembodied voice as a slim steel-toed boot came rocketing into Tayuya's vision before crushing her throat.

The Oto-nin crumpled into the snow and into the blood of their wounds as the ANBU loomed above. The sun was the child's halo but did nothing but make her appear faceless to Tayuya and as dark as a shadow.

Kagome's eyes were fixed on the Oto-nin as blood flushed over the girl's teeth and gasping lips. "You might think you cannot speak now, but I'll have you screaming everything you know about Itachi and Sasuke in the next few moments if you don't fess up right. _Now._"

Tayuya coughed and a rasping noise scraped through her crushed airways.

Kagome did a circling motion in the air with the rimed katana and the far off call of a crow echoed in response. "I'd hurry if I was you." Her signal for Tengu's flames would not go unanswered.

"Uchi…Uchiha Itachi… he was… was ambushed, right?" Tayuya croaked and her face was twisted in a grimace as she spoke.

"A few weeks ago, yes," Kagome growled and caught a dark figure cresting over the mountaintops' skyline. "Was it Orochimaru?"

Tayuya shook her head. "ANBU… they did it. They serve... my master's master's master's master…" she cackled a hysterical laugh and it was a gargled, strangled thing.

"Who?" Kagome pointed Itachi's katana to Tayuya's throat. The damp, bloody column of flesh swelled and then collapsed before the blade. "Who are they all in league with?" Kagome's voice wavered, her eyes welling with hot tears that scorched her cheeks. "Who wants to kill Itachi?"

Itachi was sure to have enemies, even within his own ranks. Admirers and rivals all harbored the same jealousies and resentments to the glorious prodigy. Though, their origins may have different, the ultimate outcome was the same.

_Elimination. _

Tayuya smiled a sad, genuine smile. "I don't know. I've only…" Tayuya hacked up chunky blood. "—heard them speak to Orochimaru-sama once… even they serve more shadows… no one is safe."

Kagome felt vertigo rush over her like a giant oppressive wave tossing onto the ocean's floor.

Was Tayuya justly speaking the truth? Was there really an entire network of enemies interlaced so deeply and intricately that they were unknown even to each other?

If that was the case, then Konoha was doomed.

"What do they want? How corrupted is ANBU?" Kagome demanded and prodded Tayuya's throat with Itachi's katana. There was justification in defending him with his own weapon.

It was no smudge on his honor.

Tayuya laughed. "_Everything._ They want everything. _Everywhere_. They are everywhere."

A piercing cry and Tengu circled the pale sun overhead, ready to make the tundra an inferno on Kagome's signal.

"I need more information," Kagome said solemnly and Itachi's katana sung with Wind chakra.

Tayuya laid back down on the ice with a quiet _shush_. "I am nothing, girl." Her eyes flicked to Kagome, lingering so. The irises reflected snow, sunlight and the circling shadow marking her death. "If you want to live… run away and never go near Uchiha Itachi ever again." It was the only warning she could give because she loved her master more than she could ever pity this helpless child.

"You know more."

"But I will not tell you," Tayuya replied and turned her eyes back up to the sky. "I hope you… do not listen and stay by the Uchiha's side… burn with the rest of them, witch."

Pity never stemmed hatred and so long as her master told her to, all those who were loyal to the Uchiha were her enemies.

The raven above dove down towards Tayuya in a fluid obsidian movement. The dying Oto-nin watched as the bird _shattered_ and combusted into a thousand, raining flames.

Kagome sliced the air with a graceful arc before whispering,_ "Ryujia no Mai."_

_Dance of the Dragon. _

"You will suffocate until you speak," Kagome warned as the very air around hissed, took shape and _sharpened._

"I've stopped breathing a long time ago." Tayuya simply remained still, watching as the sun's flames rained down and the air she breathed arose into _blades_. Blood seeped from her side and into the soft fawn of her robes. She cast one last look at the only gift she ever received.

_I've failed you, Orochimaru-sama…_

The shattered flute was the last thing Tayuya, The Demonic Flute of Otogakure, saw before closing her eyes forever.

A cyclone erupted and caught the blaze eagerly as it churned around the Oto-nin, illuminating her copper hair like the devil's fire.

Wind fed Fire and they both needed _air._

Tayuya did not wait, she simply stood and with her flute poised—

A memory came to her mind, in Tayuya's last moments.

_Her master standing before a council of shadows, flame-light tosses, murmurs near silence; even they do not know who their true leader is…_

If evil ever existed, they embodied it truly.

"They sold their souls to a _demon_," she betrayed her masters with her final breath.

—pierced her heart before throwing herself into the flames.

…

Neji's hands were stripped to the bone.

Droplets of blood peppered the glacier like dewdrops as the Hyuuga fell back into his stance.

His opponent stood three meters across the ice and against a backdrop of mountains skimming the glacier's edge. The scintillating lace of blue-green veins swam within the dark granite outcroppings perched in the distance. The Oto-nin's lavender robes hung loose on his frame and his pallid flesh was _so_ pale, it was a near bloodless grey.

His opponent's hair was a flat white, limp and tied in a scarlet twine at either sides of his cheekbones. His eyes were a dull, watery green that reflected Neji's jade crane mask all the more vividly and his only other notable features were his strong jaw line and the twin scarlet disks marked just above his brow line.

The Oto-nin outstretched his hand and his fingertips shed their skin.

Neji reacted instantly.

"_Hakkeshō: Kaiten!"_

_Eight Trigrams: Heavenly Spin._

The Crane danced, his body vanishing in a dome of translucent blue chakra, deflecting the bone bullets and ricocheting them right back at his opponent.

Neji stilled in the next moment, his breath silent but fervent against the porcelain of his mask. His pale, clan-bred eyes darted down to a cluster of bone spears that sprouted seemingly from the glacier's surface. The bone bullets rolled around on the ice like ivory beads.

Apparently, unseen by Neji, the Oto-nin had shot much more than projectile phalanges at him, but rather the occasional ulna was up for grabs as well.

Neji flickered out of sight, into shadow and ice-dust.

The Oto-nin moved his limbs as smooth as if they were boneless, which they were anything but. His spine bended at impossible angles as Neji aimed for his throat with his Gentle Fist and his skin became hard as steel once it contacted with Neji's damaged hands.

Another crisp crack reverberated through Neji's bloodied palm, up his forearm and to his ears. The sobering bite of pain rattled him senseless for an instant.

He didn't have much longer before his hands shattered altogether.

His hands were burning with an unspeakable flame and his bindings were wrapped, rewrapped, thrice-wrapped to act as much as a tourniquet as a façade of the damage done. Throughout their hand-to-hand (more like flesh-to-bone) bout Neji could not tell if calcium deficiency was working in Neji's favor and if it was, he did not notice.

_Insufficient bone density_, Neji scoffed mentally at Genma's poor calculations. The Oto-nin's bones were unnaturally hard at the moment even after two months of malnutrition. Neji did not want to know how strong they were on a staple diet of milk.

Either way, Neji met the Oto-nin's strikes, hit for hit and used the momentum to his advantage to make up for his much more brittle hands.

The fact that he considered his own hands_ brittle_, his main weapons, was a sobering thought to the Hyuuga as he proceeded to activate another onslaught of his Gentle Fist.

"_Hakke Hyaku: Nijūhachi Sho!" _

_Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms. _

Neji's arms spread like wings and he bowed in a forced arch as his legs swiped across the ice. He aimed for the Oto-nin's stomach and kept his stance low and measured.

"Nii!" Neji's voice cut and his two strikes were equally blocked by forearms, followed by a bone-tipped parry that Neji deflected with his vambraces. "Shi!"

_Four_

Again, his attack was met equally and Neji's footing faltered slightly.

"Hachi!"

_Eight_

He barely grazed the Oto-nin's wrist and felt his bindings tear to reveal a pink knob of his index knuckle. The skin was sheared completely off. "Juuroku!"

_Sixteen_

"…"

_Thirty Two_

"_..."_

_Sixty Four_

"…"

_One hundred twenty eight_

It was a blinding succession of strikes that flared like a pillar of pure lucent blue chakra straight into the Oto-nin's chest. Out of the two hundred and fifty four strikes, Neji only landed _seventeen_.

The Oto-nin's left arm hung useless and limp in his tattered lavender haori and his breathing became rasping. Neji had managed to get his lung as well as his appendage fully and he was most definitely sure that he had disabled the Oto-nin's kidneys, but that was for another day.

Neji deflected another onslaught of bone spears with his vambrace; as he evaded, he put meters of frost and rock between him and the Oto-nin.

It was after a few moments of matched footwork, with Neji circling in a graceful trounce and the Oto-nin standing eerily still, did a breeze catch on the thin-aired area and rise to a siphoned roar.

Kagome appeared in a silvery whirlwind of pure, undulated Wind chakra and…

_Feathers?_ Neji's eyes were distracted for a mere millisecond and the Oto-nin exploited it—

A strip of steel flashed across Neji's vision before its edge contacted with a column of ivory.

It was a stalemate for a breath's time before the bone splintered and the mottled russet core became visible to Neji for the first time.

Kagome's newly acquired katana sliced through the Oto-nin's bones like they were butter.

Neji's hands curled into bloody, bandaged fists as he sidled up alongside his Captain, who had just sent the bone lance aimed for Neji's heart clattering to the rimed rock beneath their feet in a pile of marrow and white splinters.

The Oto-nin's only functional arm fell limp and the temporary orifice in his palm sealed shut with a brief scab.

"His skin is regenerating at a slower rate," Neji informed Kagome, his mask muffling his voice.

The leering cat mask nodded and in a sharp motion, she reversed her grip on the katana to no longer parry but to be offensive and _attack_.

It was then Neji noticed a few stray droplets trickling across the already blood spattered ice. "You're bleeding."

"_Was,"_ Kagome corrected and disappeared in a flurry of Wind chakra.

Neji's eyes barely registered her chakra structure before it reappeared and struck out at the Oto-nin's neck.

Kagome was fast, almost frantic in her movements. The sword became an extension of her arm as she flittered about her prey in flickering flashes of black feathers.

Neji rushed in and despite his hands' agonizing protests, struck true and strong into the Oto-nin's back, aiming through the protective cage of ribs and into the frenetically beating lump of flesh. A palpitation at best started within the Oto-nin's heart but it was enough to garner his attention and allow Kagome an opening.

Instead, the vertebrae beneath the pale lilac fabric and even paler flesh twisted for a moment's warning before shooting out into a thin spine of bone spikes, harpooning Neji's palms.

The Hyuuga's jaw locked so hard that he was sure his teeth would crack.

"_Tsuru! Move!"_ Kagome called from the Oto-nin's front and he could see her frantic stormy gaze over the shoulders of purple silk and beneath her porcelain eyelets.

He was caught and before he could rip his hands free, the spine retracted back into the Oto-nin's back. The Oto-nin spun around in a blurring motion.

Neji saw a flicker of grey-white dart across his seemingly untouched front. Neji's eyes looked down at his flayed armor, the ripped dark fabric beneath. He groped with punctured hands and felt the distinct warmth of flesh.

Not even a moment later, a lateral stream of hot blood shot forth and across the Oto-nin's pallid cheek.

"_Neji!"_ Kagome's voice called from far, far away because his heartbeat was so very, very close…

A clatter of bone reached his ears and his fair eyes slipped to the ice, where a coil of vertebrae lay, gleaming violently _**red**_. Neji followed the column up and saw the whip locked firmly within the vise-like grip of the Oto-nin.

The Oto-nin's wrist flicked and the whip slithered up into the air ready to strike once more—

Neji dodged, not by his own accord but rather by the swift squall of wind that sent him sprawling back several meters.

Kagome flickered by his side, sheathed her katana, crouched and splayed a hand on his chest. Her palm, already caked in a rusty crust came back glossy with vermillion. Neji struggled to get back up, but Kagome's hand was like an iron weight on his ribs. "Lay back," she ordered and her troubled eyes were dark beneath her mask. Kagome tossed a glance over her shoulder to the Oto-nin who was charging at them with a bone polearm in hand.

Kagome idly flicked the air.

"_Fuujin no Mai," _she whispered.

_Dance of the Wind. _

A torrent of crescent shaped Wind blades rallied forth and in a cacophony of shattered ice and bone, the Oto-nin disappeared.

"That should give us some time," she muttered to herself before pushing her mask back —Neji saw her bloodless ashen cheeks— and letting a low measure call whistle over her lips.

A scratchy caw was heard and Neji watched as a shadow the size of a horse flew over them and dove in the direction of the Oto-nin. A single feather drifted down; it was long and its spine fanned out green hues over the frayed ebony fibers. Kagome caught it between her fingers, before pulling her mask back down.

"Where's Sasuke?" she demanded and pushed her palm over his lacerated chest. Blood swelled beneath her fingertips and every heartbeat marked Neji's death knell.

"He is not with you?" Neji threw his skull back onto the ice and his rich chestnut brown hair pooled beneath.

"Please don't tell me you just said that," Kagome near groaned and focused her own energies on Neji's nicked aorta. It was geyser of blood surging to escape the artery and Kagome had to concentrate on the pinhole leak. She _willed_ it to close, for the tissue to draw together and knot permanently. A drawing sensation filled her chest and the already chilled air became painful to inhale. "Neji!"

Neji's eyes snapped open, feeling his heart rate soar then level out. "Uchiha went to look for you. I was supposed to hold off the vessel until you both arrived."

Kagome grit her teeth. "Baka, I specifically told him to stay _with _you." Neji was the only one without a weapon, there were far too many variables to account for when dealing with Orochimaru's vessel and that was specifically why she wanted _two _on one. Kagome withdrew her hand and her other twirled the ebony feather about. "There, you'll live, Hyuuga. Now stay here while I detain the vessel. Tengu can only hold him off for so long."

Neji's protests were in the form of trying to stand.

Kagome whapped a forearm across his frayed armor. "If you make another hit with those hands of yours, they'll be in pieces across the ice. If you absolutely must help, watch the battle with your Byakugan and signal me his weak points." When Neji made another move to get up, Kagome pinched his carotid artery and watched as his eyes lulled back into his skull. The Hyuuga was unconscious the next moment.

Kagome stood and looked down on Neji's closed eyes beneath his jade striped crane mask. In a fumble of hands and fabric, she dug out a flare, lit it and watched the pinkish-orange light soar up into the sky with a smoky tail.

That was Genma's signal, he would retrieve Neji and now she could pursue the vessel at full force.

Kagome felt her heart rate scale once more as she_ willed_ herself to move and take an unsteady step forward. Her legs trembled, they were so weak. Her last onslaught on the vessel had cost her. So had Neji's lacerated aorta and so had the near constant amount of not only healing chakra but her own unnamed source of power rushing through her veins and bleeding out with the rest. She should be dead.

She was a walking corpse, bleeding and bleeding and bleeding…

She should have run out by now…

But it was bleeding and bleeding into her—_an immense void which gobbled up anything and everything that was spilt_— and it was pure energy running through her veins, willing her heart to beat, her lungs to breathe, her brain to simply be…

Everything that tied her to her body was slipping away. Power that cost her soul was being used for blood.

And she was running out of both.

Kagome ran and didn't stop.

If she did, she knew she would never take another step again.

…

It resembled a skinned, bedraggled deer.

Sasuke kicked the skull, its jaw crumbled into black-scorched teeth. A few wisps of singed copper hair clung onto bits of charred flesh and the baked bone of the cranium.

Kagome did this.

Sasuke's Sharingan darted across the scene, the rising sun melted the first layers of ice each day to be frozen in the night. At the moment, however, everything resembled a meaty pink slush. Too much blood to be solely the Flute-player, too much carnage for one little girl…

Sasuke unsheathed his chokuto and twirled it about in his grip momentarily.

Kagome did this.

Visions of her small form— _the leering mask of the cat, her violent grey eyes_—looming over an ANBU who had just done him harm surfaced and it was anything but a breath of fresh air. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he thought of Naruto's face smiling wide with the fangs and eyes and claws of a demon. He thought of his brother, lurking in the shadows, pulling the strings of his little marionette.

Kagome did this.

_She's changing_, Sasuke thought and felt as if he may never forgive them.

…

"_Fuujin no Mai!"_

Wind blades shot forth from the little prodigy as if she were a turret. There was no shield against the wind, so the Oto-nin dodged the onslaught with the precision of a contortionist. Kagome flipped and nimbly evaded another lash of the wicked bone whip Orochimaru's vessel wielded.

They were high up in the mountain's cradle, a snowy dale nestled atop the peek. It was eerily quiet and the largest of fauna consisted of a few hares and lemmings scurrying about the snow-laden pines. The sky was choked by a low bearing grey haze and promised snowfall within the hour.

Kagome landed on an outcropping, hands cupping the stone by her heels, she crouched like a cat and surveyed her quarry like a mouse about to be pounced upon.

"Kimimaro," Kagome called in a measured tone.

Said nin tilted his head at his name.

"What's your name?" he asked quietly and his voice was deep, but deceptively kind.

He was beautiful.

He resembled some ethereal being almost incapable of fighting. The pristine landscape melded with the vessel's flesh. His once perfectly parted and tied off white hair was loose, tangled and flecked with blood. Two pits of watery jade stared at her with an unnerving and hauntingly familiar gaze. Though, his stare was not heavy on her shoulders. The soft lilac of his robes was also mottled and the plaited purple rope that acted as his obi was loose and skimming the frozen soil beneath his sandals.

"I asked you a question," Kimimaro said with a lethal finality.

Kagome quirked her head curiously down at him but said nothing.

The rattle of bones was her only warning before the stone beneath her boots detonated. Kagome leapt up and soared over the vessel, only to have her escape thwarted when the whip coiled around her ankle and brought her crashing down.

Kagome let out a strangled cry when she felt her chin collide with the frozen loam and her mask crack and splinter into her mandible. Her vision flashed white as she crumpled against the earth. Her black form was stark against the cold ivory landscape.

Sandals came into view as the spots receded and her head slowed its spinning. "Answer me."

Kagome coughed as the air had been knocked out of her and the knobbed curve of vertebrae coiled before her nose.

"You are too slow," Kimimaro's disembodied voice observed. Kagome felt something prod her stomach. "_Bloodless_…your skin is grey, little one. How are you able to still breathe, let alone fight?"

Kagome felt a chill crawl under her skin and it wasn't from the snow. It would cost her precious chakra concentration, as she needed it almost solely to keep her heart going, but she had her opening now and was close enough…

With trembling hands, Kagome curled her fingers against the dark frozen earth and formed a very intricate hand seal.

It was potent and strong. She didn't have time for mind games, she needed information and she needed it _now_.

A fog crept over Kimimaro's vision, chasing away the winter landscape and the child at his feet. The frozen, rimed soil beneath melted into a lukewarm mud; the pines wilted and their snow dripped down to stringy ornaments of moss.

Before Kimimaro could stagger back he was in a humid peat bog standing beneath a far off sun that cast a sultry ochre haze.

Snakes appeared from the mud, slithered and laced themselves over his sandals, coiling around his ankles. His whip transformed into a dappled python, hissing and nipping at his wrists. He dropped it and the serpent flopped to the ground only to curl its thick body around his waist.

"_Kimimaro-kun—"_

His head snapped up and searched frantically among the mangroves and stagnant waters for _that face_…

That _one_ face he had longed to see for months…

"Orochimaru-sama," his tongue folded over the word greedily.

His Master was just a scant three meters off, standing serenely in the bog and unmarred by the elements.

"You disappoint me, Kimimaro-kun. I needed you when the ANBU went after me…" said his Master's voice, in that same rasped baritone that slithered its way to your ears.

Kimimaro tilted his head with confusion knitting his brow. "No, you did not."

Orochimaru was before him in the next moment. Insipid yellow irises stared down into him. "And why not? You are my vessel, my most trusted subordinate… The plague in Kawa—"

"Was a ruse, Orochimaru-sama," Kimimaro reminded him. "Do you not remember?"

"Of course, _of course_," hissed the Sannin and he cupped his vessel's cheek. Immobile, Kimimaro stood waist deep in snakes. "I am simply checking if _you _remember, Kimimaro-kun. Now who was it we were to draw out?"

"Uchiha Itachi's little brother, Master," Kimimaro responded dutifully. "The weasel is too strong to target any longer. He survived that last ambush—"

"_Sshh."_ A cold finger was placed over Kimimaro's lips. "And why did we ambush him, Kimimaro-kun?" The Sannin removed his hand completely from his vessel's face.

"To acquire his Sharingan, of course. Kabuto guarantees the procedure will go smoothly."

"What procedure?" Orochimaru asked anxiously and muscles underneath paper white flesh twitched.

"To transplant his Kekkei Genkai into me, your next vessel, Master," Kimimaro's voice was reverent.

"And his little brother is the next target, yes?"

Kimimaro nodded. "But _she _is with him… the weasel knows we will not take him if she is near. You know the others would never allow us to and the weasel knows that we are forbidden to."

Orochimaru's face slacked in the most curious of expressions. "Does the name Kage mean anything to you?"

Suddenly Kimimaro's eyes flitted up to meet his Master's gaze—

Orochimaru's eyes were a murky blue.

Kimimaro's hand shot out and hooked around the Sannin's throat like a scythe. _"Kai,"_ he uttered the single syllable low and with an unmarked fury.

The wetlands froze over, the thick damp air no longer tasted sweet but wind-chased and thin. Kimimaro blinked and his Master was replaced with a small, gasping ANBU child with a cracked neko mask and frantic eyes. The snakes that had formed serpentine helixes about his waist went still and were simply his knobbed vertebral whip coiled around his person.

The ANBU child struggled in his grip and he lifted her off the ground by the neck, her arms flailing and nails weakly clawing at his wrist.

"You were very foolish to waste your last bit of chakra on that stunt," Kimimaro informed listlessly before dropping her down to the earth. "No one has been able to affect me so strongly with Genjutsu before…"

Kagome was huddled at his feet when Kimimaro unwound his own weapon from himself in a blur and then sent it careening down to the earth just inches away from her nose. The frozen loam cracked and her face split with a nasty gash along her hairline.

"What is your name?" Kimimaro crouched and flipped off her neko mask easily. He hooked a bone white finger under her chin and made her look up to him. He examined her face: she had defiant eyes, ones much too quick for a girl this age. They reminded him of storm vapors withholding lightning and shifted from grey to blue in moments. Her eyes were narrowed slits with thick jet black lashes that touched one another and kissed her bloodless cheeks.

It was at this moment, that a single flake of snow drifted down and flecked the very tip of an eyelash. The contrast was stark, and soon her lashes were peppered white and Kimimaro himself had a thin downy layer on his shoulders.

"Why?" Kagome grit out between the thin white line of her lips. "I'm just the girl who's in the way of you getting your hands on Sasuke!"

Kimimaro tilted his head and he looked almost angelic in his pensiveness. "They talk about you, quite a bit, you know. They say you don't remember a thing… 'a poor defenseless pup.'"

"Who?" Kagome's voice crumpled up in her throat, terrified of the answer.

Kimimaro shrugged and immediately withdrew. "I am nothing. I know little…"

_But you know __**something**__…_ Kagome jerked her head away from the vessel's cold fingertips. "That's what Tayuya said."

"She is right. We are pawns—_tools_ to serve our masters. I simply wish to know your name. The one the weasel keeps so close and yet _so far_ away…"

"_Kagome,"_ she said lowly. "Kagome… My name is Higurashi Kagome!" she yelled fervently and yet not even _she_ could tell you who that was.

The realization was sobering.

Kimimaro rose a brow but continued to stare at her impassively.

Kagome's hand reached out and desperately coiled around Kimimaro's wrist. "Please, _tell me_ everything you know…" she begged and she had tears welling. "I'm so _confused_ all the time. I have _no_ memories of my past. If you know anything… even the _smallest _thing. Please, I _beg _you, _tell me_."

Kimimaro seemed to understand her disparity and in a rare moment, he relented at the very confused small child. "Orochimaru-sama has no interest in_ you_ but it is the _others _that tell him he cannot touch _you_ and…and_ the_ Uchiha knows this. That is why _you_ are on Uchiha Sasuke's team, little one, the weasel is_** using**_ you."

Kagome shook her head._ "—it is not like that at all!"_

Kimimaro stood and the girl was splayed on her belly. "My Master only wants the Sharingan, whether it comes from the elder or younger Uchiha, it does not matter. Their bloodline limit is the strongest of their clan's. However, your pursuers, little one, are much more _lethal_—for you have _countless_…"

Kagome let out a haggard cough. "And yet you say you know nothing," she scoffed and rolled onto her side. Her body broke out in a stream of ceaseless tremors. "You act like they are watching me right now."

"They are," Kimimaro assured and flicked his bone whip back away from the ANBU child. "They are in waiting, little one, it does not matter how much I tell you, your fate is inescapable."

"Waiting…" Kagome gasped for breath, veins visibly blue and swimming up her neck and into the swells of her cheeks. "Waiting for what?"

Kimimaro shrugged. "As I said, I am nothing. I know little but I believe you know already, little one. You must know what they lie in wait for…" He turned away from her, his bone whip recoiling back into the folds of lilac fabric. "You should get far away from the weasel, little one. Just as well, abandon his little brother."

Kagome shook her head. "I can't do that, your master may_ settle_ for Sasuke's eyes but I won't give you the opportunity to take Itachi's."

Kimimaro stilled and was quiet for a long moment. "I can respect such… _devotion_." The vessel cast a look over his shoulder. "So I will warn you. The only one who showed himself had a mask… he called himself _**Tobi**_."

Kagome's face twisted and she felt even more rattling questions surface than before. "W-Where are you going?"

"To kill Uchiha Sasuke." Kimimaro continued walking, but just so quietly, he murmured, "Did you forget, little one? We are still enemies."

Kagome's whole body didn't respond, she lay limp and uncurled her fisted hand to reveal a bloodied palm and a frayed, black feather. "No, I never forgot," she whispered hoarsely.

Kimimaro paused mid-step and caught a glimpse of black rush between a cluster of leafless birches silently. Kimimaro turned back around to the ANBU child—

Only to find her gone with the faintest red splash on the frost and a single ebony feather in her absence.

Kimimaro detected movements flittering on his peripheral. "You truly are a marvel, little one," he murmured amongst the snowdrifts and pale peeling birches. "You should be dead, yet your body still functions beyond its limits…"

A horrible crashing noise rioted forth and a huddle of pines toppled over in cloudlets of snowflakes. When everything quieted and the ice-dust settled, there were three figures standing amidst the felled vegetation.

Kimimaro stared placidly at his dead teammates. "Sakon. Jirobo. Kidomaru."

Another dark shadow darted into a throng of trees. Kimimaro kept vigilant and heard a rustle of feathers. It would not long now until she sent that fire-breathing crow on him once more. Snow fell quietly and he remained still, even when the massive Jirobo came bumbling forth, knee deep in snow he sunk like mammoth in a tar pit.

On the wind, there was a whisper, "Shikabane no Mai."

_Dance of the Dead._

Kimimaro's head jerked to the right. No one was there, just endless tops of white knolls. "I was told not to kill you by the others, but I serve Orochimaru-sama first and foremost and if you hinder my capture of Uchiha Sasuke then I will not hesitate."

Jirobo roared in response, swiping at his head with the force of a lion. The fat ginger's face was a pale yellow, his eye sockets held a whitish film and his movements were stiff and more brutish than usual.

Kimimaro let a bone javelin slip from beneath his sleeve from his wrist's flesh and deftly leapt onto the undead Oto-nin's chest. With three hurried scores to the neck, mainly directed at the spinal cord—which snapped much too eagerly—Kimimaro decapitated his teammate. However, Jirobo's body moved, despite the fact that his head was rolling down into the snow. He smacked Kimimaro off his chest as if he were an incessant fly.

Kimimaro evaded with a graceful flip, sending his weapon straight into the silent heart of Jirobo. The Oto-nin still proceeded to charge with the tissue of his neck glaring brackish and purple— not bleeding in the slightest.

Kimimaro fended his teammate off easily until he heard the slightest shush of snow. Kidomaru wrapped his four arms around his torso and Sakon leapt up from the snow caked earth and sunk his teeth into Kimimaro's neck with savage utterances. The glower of Sakon's teal lips caught Kimimaro's gaze and the scent of old spider webs reached his senses while Jirobo's headless corpse was sprawling for his throat

Kimimaro let his skin erupt in an outbreak spikes, harpooning his teammates and sending them back. They retracted back into his tattered robes and regenerated flesh to give him leeway to evade.

The triad collapsed in on itself and Kimimaro was panting heavily, his only functioning arm—courtesy of the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist—reached up and groped the wound on the rim of his collarbone. It was bleeding too much for his tastes, and the saliva of a week old corpse could not be sanitary.

Infection was sure to spread and his body was already too weak from the elements to put up much of a fight.

Either way, if he managed to kill the ANBU child he would still die eventually if his Master did not come and collect him from the bottleneck the Konoha-nin had forced him into.

"Why was Tayuya bleeding?"

Kimimaro whirled on his heel and standing light as air on top of the snow was the ANBU child.

"I think you know the answer, little one," he murmured and there was such calmness to him.

"Your bone density is barely hindered in the slightest, despite malnutrition," she accused and walked across the snow as if it was water and the soles of her feet were floating on chakra. "She was scared, she was weak…" Kagome seethed and took another silent, ethereal step forward. "And the others—" her eyes flicked to the pile of blundering corpses of what was once the Sound Four— "were just as well, I imagine."

"I am Orochimaru-sama's next vessel. They are expendable and were never true disciples of Orochimaru-sama because they hesitated in giving me what I _needed._"

"They went down too easy. They all did..." Kagome muttered and swayed slightly on her feet. "What the hell did you do to them?" she demanded in a merciless voice.

Kimimaro raised a brow and civilly dabbed away at his profusely bleeding neck. "It is a bit unseemly to discuss what one has_**eaten**_after the fact."

_They were just kids, just impressionable, lost children and were used for everything they could possibly offer…down to their very bones._ Kagome's face twisted in disgust and her eyes became shadowed.

"_Kaze no Kizu!" _

It was inescapable, the current of wind that enveloped the area and shot forth in a swirling wave of pure, undulated power. The silvery edges tore apart the earth leaving a fractured chasm like a _scar._

The Sound Four, or what remained of them, were motionless pieces of fetid flesh at the bottom of the ravine. Kimimaro was gone altogether.

Kagome looked at the destruction before her and the small girl collapsed; she was beyond the point of exhaustion and that last attack was the end of _any_ reserves she had.

Her knees were watery and they trembled before spilling to the split earth along with the rest of her. Kagome watched as a thin string of flame encircled her in a protective ring and the rustle of feathers was heard.

Tengu glided down to her, having observed the entire ordeal and his wings outstretched over her small, frail body. His feathers caught fire and flickered in a tame flame providing her an umbrella of warmth.

Kagome just stared dazedly at the tossing flames. "Find Sasuke," she croaked. "Get him to Genma." She needed him to get out of here. Kimimaro still had yet to unveil his Curse Mark and most definitely would now after using her _Wind Scar_.

"Sasuke-danna's signature is approaching, he has found our trail despite your efforts."

Kagome felt a heavy fog of extreme weariness weigh on her psyche. "Please, just do what I ask. You cannot fight Kimimaro lest he discovers your eye."

Tengu's single Sharingan stared down at her and blinked. "I cannot," the summon cooed and its head whipped to the sound of rocks tumbling deep within the ravine. "Itachi-danna would never condone such a thing." The crow's body stretched and its blazing wings expanded protectively to a fiery canopy above Kagome.

"If he discovers you have a Sharingan implanted then he'll take yours as a last resort!" Kagome hissed and flinched when the crow began to smother her dangerously with its fiery plume. "Itachi entrusted you with me."

The summon ignored her request. "You have done enough and I cannot be idle any longer. Sasuke-danna will be able to assist you, please allow me to fight until he arrives," Tengu was not requesting. "Now, Kagome-danna, please_ do not move."_

Kagome's stomach flipped at the idea. If Sasuke failed, it was done. Kimimaro would capture him, harvest his Kekkei Genkai and then slit his throat. Even one of Itachi's most powerful summons could only do so much against a Curse Marked nin.

But she didn't have a choice, at the moment, her body was out of chakra completely, the only thing keeping her going or even conscious for that matter was her own unnamed, mysterious energy source.

And even that was starting to waver.

Tengu's wings extinguished back to a glossy black awning of feathers and the air was once again chilled. His single Sharingan stared down at her, transfixed and seeing what could not be seen. "Your body is struggling to keep your heart beating let alone maintain body heat. Hypothermia will ensue unless you keep within this circle of my fire. Please stay while I deal with the Oto-nin. Your chakra… has also completely vanished and has been replaced by some… sort of energy," observed the massive avian creature.

Rocks tumbled with movement within the ravine and Tengu disappeared in a valiant swoop, leaving a single ebony feather to drift down with the snow and land beside her in a ring of fire and ice.

That same moment, an ochre-blazed dragon was spewed from Tengu's throat and sent high into the sky, shifting the thermals and eliciting the rumbles before an impending storm.

Tengu prepared the sky for his Master's little brother and knew the Lightning would respond to his call.

…

Sasuke slid down into the valley and like a dark puma loping amidst the trees, he was silent as he skimmed the forest's rim. He was nothing but an ephemeral specter on the tree line, vigilant as he crept away from the shadows of the snow laden evergreens and into the more sparsely populated cluster of birches.

The sky rumbled and was no longer a blustery grey but now ominously dark and promised a nasty winter storm uncharacteristic for this region. The firmament more closely resembled Iwa's furious winter climate instead.

It was at the first snap of the lightning that Sasuke halted at the precipice of a gorge, newly scraped out of the earth.

A spine-rattling screech reached his ears and high above was a black shadow diving in and out of the treacherous atmosphere and spewing flaming eddies from its maws. Another figure was running along the tips of trees, dodging the fires and sending little splinters of white at its pursuer with a lethal accuracy.

Sasuke unsheathed his sword, about to join the fray, until he stumbled on the withering ring of hot embers and—

"Kagome," he breathed and nearly dropped his sword at the sight of her.

He rushed to her in quick movements, pulled back his mask and dropped to his knees.

She was asleep.

She was deathly cold, her breaths much too quiet and her skin was grey, _bloodless._ He roused her gently and she did not stir for a long dangerous moment.

In that moment, all resentments were chased far, far away and Uchiha Sasuke could not hold a grudge with his dying girl.

Her eyelids, fluttered as if they were made of lead, and opened. _"…s'cold."_

She did not even shiver.

Sasuke then realized the purpose of the embers and in a swift Tiger seal, they ignited once more and warmed the area.

His mind raced. What else could he do?

Sasuke had seen Sakura perform her healing techniques a thousand times and more than once with his Sharingan. He knew how to do it, he had catalogued it like any other technique his Kekkei Genkai had witnessed, but when comparing chakra control with his teammate's, Sakura had the precision of a needle compared to a sword, like Sasuke.

Tengu let out another resonating caw, and his brother's summon seemed to double in size once again in the sky before letting a pillar of flame race forth from its beak. It was ridiculous people even considered Itachi's summon a bird anymore.

It was more like a dragon, in Sasuke's opinion.

Kagome let out a whimper and his attention was snapped back to her.

His mind was made up, and he let his fingertips glow with healing chakra. Sakura's always reminded Sasuke of a glassy emerald, but his was such a deep green it looked almost like a thick smoke wafting over Kagome's torso.

Her pants were scabbed and she reeked of blood.

Cracked ribs, sliced liver, punctured lung, bruising _everywhere_… Nothing fatal, at least not immediately. _No wait._ Sasuke felt it, like how one hears the roar of impending rapids on a tranquil river, he detected a disturbance within her arteries. Then he stumbled upon it and the realization was horrifying.

She was bleeding internally.

_Everywhere._

"Fuck," Sasuke grit his teeth hard. How was she alive? It was like little pinpricks in a dam and her body was not clotting her blood, just letting it slowly seep out and into her cavities. Her blood pressure was dangerously low, her heart rate was frantic and her blood vessels were desperately constricting. It was too delicate of a procedure, there were too many points to heal and his chakra usage was too rough to bring together the fragile tissues.

He tried, even so.

Only to cause a nick in one of her pulmonary arteries to tear further.

Sasuke immediately ripped his hands away and they were hideous, clumsy things in his eyes.

He stared down at her, a crumpled, pale creature whose silent breaths were turning to gasps. Sasuke was shaking, his heart roaring in his ears and feeling powerless to do anything.

She might die. She might _actually_ die.

Sasuke remained comatose until he heard footsteps.

"Uchiha Sasuke," uttered a serene tenor.

Sasuke looked up with haunted eyes, unable to move from her.

The voice did not match the speaker as before Sasuke was a monster.

His skin was a coarse, leathery brown. Bone pillars sprouted forth from his back and vaulted in an impressive arch of solid, invincible bone. A tail dragged on the snow-messed earth and along its back were a bristle of bones.

Kimimaro flicked his wrist and acting like an extra appendage, was his vertebral whip coiling up and around Tengu's neck who was limp, ruffled and the size of a chicken. Kimimaro flicked it once more and Itachi's summon was tossed before Sasuke's protective flame barrier.

"I will not be taking any hand-me-down Sharingan, I am afraid," mused the Oto-nin and he watched as the flames encircling the ANBU flared more violently. "Uchiha Sasuke, fight me."

The flames died away in an instant and were reduced to a charred smoking ring in which Sasuke was already standing.

Tengu stirred and Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life, never leaving the grotesque Oto-nin. "Tengu," his voice was impossibly devoid of emotion as he sheathed his sword in a fluid motion.

The raven composed itself and regained a more impressive size at Sasuke's call. "Yes, Sasuke-danna?" he hummed, regal despite the crushed right foot and cracked beak.

"Take Kagome and get far away from here," Sasuke informed him and sheathed his sword. The Uchiha's eyes were dull, callous pits of red.

The raven stretched its wings, fanning its dark plume and despite the damage managed to grow to an impressive size, nearly thrice its original form and then once more until Tengu reached his peak and towered over Sasuke and the small ANBU child at his feet.

Gently, oh so gently, he picked her up with the tip of his beak and held her by loose fabric of her fleece. Like a kitten held by the scruff of its neck, Tengu took the girl and in the next moment was gone.

Kimimaro did not interfere. "Unsheathe your sword, Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes drifted to the horizon where Tengu was but a faint shadow on the mountain's looming ridge. A vein of lightning streaked across, followed by thunder a moment later. "What I am about to do does not require one," he murmured and there was a dark promise in that.

Kimimaro crouched readying for the attack but slacked when he saw the motionless Uchiha's eyes.

He had never thought anyone, other than Orochimaru could make him feel so…

_Insignificant._ Unworthy to even sully the Uchiha's sword.

The last words Kimimaro heard were—

"I call this _Kirin_."

…

Meanwhile in a distant country, a Jinchuuriki and a Hyuuga watched a curtain of rain spill off the rooftops and obscure the world around them.

"Looks like those winter storms are starting," Teuchi commented as he sifted another batch of ramen and observed the sheet of rain slipping over the veranda's lip. "I wouldn't have any customers if it weren't for you, Naruto."

"We, um, brought an umbrella," Hinata blushed and shrunk into her barstool, hands fisting around the purple parasol.

Naruto stared silently at his empty bowl. The Ichiraku chef replaced it with a steaming proxy, complete with leeks, boiled eggs and fried pork. Naruto glumly poked at the noodles with his chopsticks. He then perked up suddenly. "Hinata?"

"Y-yes?" Hinata swiveled in her seat to face the Jinchuuriki.

"Do you hear that?" Naruto quirked his head.

_Lightning, metal screaming, moaning and the hissing of chakra…_

"Hear… Hear what?" Hinata swallowed. "Naruto-kun?" she observed the Jinchuuriki's suddenly blank expression.

The Jinchuuriki sniffed the air. "Don't you smell that?" Something was burning.

_Acrid smoke, old blood, cold sweat…_

"—no?"

Naruto's eyes flicked about. "It's… cold…" The hair raised on his arm, the preeminent feeling before a lightning strike.

_The scrape of ice, a bitter squall, the shudder of a blade…_

And then, that far off sense, hit him hard and the silent fox was _screaming—_

Naruto felt a pain race through his skull. He clutched his head and grimaced.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata's delicate yet concerned touch went unnoticed.

Naruto stood, feeling his steps pull him in the direction.

"Kagome…" he barely choked out before racing out into the rain.

He was far off into the storm before anyone could follow.

…

Kagome dreamed she was at the bottom of the ocean.

Waves rushed above, coursing over and dragging her down into the undulating depths. The sun became a small blot of light, like a distant star before disappearing altogether.

Then Kagome was amongst the darkness and things dragged along her skin,_ silently_. She screamed and water rushed down her throat and spilled into her lungs.

She dreamed of a small light, bright as the distant sun, _pink_ as bloodied snow.

It came closer and closer and she reached out to it—

Kagome awoke to silence and the soft tussle of flames dancing about in her vision.

Just beyond yet another protective barrier of fire to keep her warm was a collapsed and motionless Tengu with wings crumpled and the size of a pigeon. Flames licked at his ebony plume but left it untouched.

The sky was calm. The world was still.

A lacy veil of snow wafted down on her and only then did Kagome notice a heavy weight on her torso preventing her from moving.

A downy layer of white obscured him and his chakra was so depleted, he might as well have been an empty shell.

Sasuke was curled around her, his spiked hair peppered white and resting heavily on her abdomen. Hands fisted under spine and wound taut around her hips, he was unmovable.

She rested a bone-white hand on his skull and softly curled her fingers around the damp, blue-black locks.

He shifted and lifted his face. His eyes were weary, unblinking, _haunted. _What had he seen?

What had he done?

Her fingers trembled against Sasuke's crown and he radiated warmth.

Kagome coughed, deep in her chest and winced at the countless pains that elicited. "_Baka…_ I told you to stay with Neji."

The light in his eyes trembled, his entire body shook—

He brought himself higher, they were face to face, his breath scathing on her cheeks. His eyes were screaming, _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so fucking sorry…_

"_Shh,"_ she cooed and stroked the sharp incline of his ashen face.

_Alive, for another day,_ her soul hummed against his.

Uchiha Sasuke swore himself to her for the rest of his life.

…

Itachi looked out into the storming skies, elbowed propped against the stone balustrade and a hand cupping his face. He had spent many hours of the night looking out, waiting for their return. Frost country was so very _far _away and they were on such very a _dangerous_ mission. "It has been done?"

The couplet of ANBU pushed back their masks. Their hair was wet but their hands and swords were clean. These storms had been conjured to cover their trail. "Hai, Taichou," Taji said reverently with a fluid bow. "Kage's sister is dead."

"If local authorities respond accordingly, the Hokage will be informed of it by day's end."

"Wave country is relatively slow to react, I give it 'til morning," Taji added sharply.

"And how was it done?" Itachi asked absently, the darks of his eyes reflected lightning.

"Arata poisoned the girl, Taichou. She died in her sleep."

Itachi's posture straightened and his words were dark. "I ordered you to leave a scene. _To send a message." _

"I bled her out, Taichou," Taji piped up, throwing up her hands for her Captain to see. Itachi did not turn around. "It was_ painless_."

"Postmortem bleeding will be evident and will seem… weak," Itachi shook his head. "You two are dismissed."

"But—"

"Dismissed."

"C'mon." Arata yanked Taji into a bow before disappearing into a cloudlet of smoke and leaves.

The rain filled the silence along with the far off roar of thunder.

Yuugao emerged from the shadows a moment after. "You go too hard on them," she whispered sadly and watched as the rain spilled past. It was not a pestering comment, but rather an unfortunate admission. Itachi had been near inhumane these past few days and quite unapproachable.

"They should have extracted information. They forsook my order for pity of their target," Itachi said emotionlessly. "How long until they hesitate in killing altogether? How long until they cost not only their lives but those of others?"

There went his mind again, calculating every possibility and outcome until the slightest of actions set the apocalypse into motion. "Shisui has lost contact with Tenzo's team."

Itachi became utterly still. "Something has happened."

"The last correspondence reported that they had engaged the enemy but a blizzard has started in the mountain pass that borders Shimo, so we will not know the outcome for days."

"How long?"

"Your brother's team engaged Orochimaru's vessel and the last remaining Oto-nin this morning."

A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky and shook the very foundations of Kikyo castle. "I see."

Yuugao laid her bear mask in her lap as she sat on the balustrade. She looked out into the rain and watched as it cast shadows down her Captain's face. It looked as if he were crying. "Will you go after them?"

But her question's answer was postponed as Sai flickered onto the terrace, dripping with rain and huffing breaths. It was the most frazzled she had ever seen him.

"_Kurohyo,"_ Itachi greeted and turned to recognize his Second.

Sai pushed back his panther mask to reveal a blanched white complexion. "_Taichou,_ Naruto…" He exhaled a shaky breath to steady himself. "The_ Jinchuuriki_ is gone."

"Gone?" Yuugao immediately slipped off the railing. "How can our Jinchuuriki be _gone?_" Her accusations were soft spoken, but the severity of the situation remained. The Kyuubi no Jinchuuriki had the largest, most distinguishable chakra signature for a reason and that was for _all_ ANBU to absently monitor him. Sai was direct surveillance, however and losing the Jinchuuriki was akin to losing the sun in a cloudless sky.

"I know," Itachi said simply. "His chakra signature disappeared nearly thirteen minutes ago."

"I apologize, Taichou." Sai knelt, his head bowed. "Should I pursue?"

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. "The influx of the Bijuu's chakra was too strong the moment he disappeared. You cannot hope to track him, especially with the demon's influence."

Yuugao turned to her Captain. "Something _has_ happened then," she mimicked her Captain's prophecy and the sense of foreboding washed over them. "Will you go after them now, Taichou?" she asked once more.

Itachi turned to the rain, a vein of lightning silently streaked through the sky. "If I were to pursue Naruto-kun now and witness what the Kyuubi has planned for Kagome… I would not be able to control myself." His dark eyes flicked to her and a clap of thunder elicited.

Yuugao was looking into a murderer's eyes, ones with a noxious rage that curdled deep within.

"But for things to progress, I will not kill Naruto-kun."

And he turned back to face the storms, _waiting._

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sort of debating if I should leave FFnet or not. I don't have an update schedule. That is all. ~KK


	29. Sound of Ice III: Purgatory's Quietude

**Author's Note:** I feel as if people should do a recap of the past few chapters to refresh their memory. If not, then read at your own risk and don't blame me for being confused. ~KK

**Warnings:** Child Abuse, Language, Gore/Violence, Sexual/Adult Situations, Suicidal and other disturbing themes. (For this chapter, Itachi's tendency towards murdering little girls)

_**Rating:**_ Mature

_**Pairings:**_ Itachi/Kagome, Sasuke/Kagome, Naruto/Kagome, Shisui/Sakura, Shikamaru/Temari

_**Ages:**_

Kakashi: 30

Shisui: 23

Itachi: 20

Neji, Lee, TenTen: 17

Sasuke & Sakura: 16

Naruto: 15

Kagome: 12

* * *

**~Chapter Twenty Nine~**

Sound of Ice III: Purgatory's Quietude

* * *

How can you say that your truth is better than ours?  
Shoulder to shoulder, now brother, we carry no arms  
The blind man sleeps in the doorway, his home  
If only I had an enemy bigger than my apathy I could have won

_—I Gave You All_

* * *

She remained awake for a scarce three minutes.

After that, her eyes slipped closed and she was as white as snow.

"Kagome?" Sasuke choked out, his tongue like dry steel scraping against brittle glass.

On the ice, she was _dying._

Sasuke slammed his fist into the glacier's surface, a cracked star spreading out from his knuckles; he stared as its fractured little arms reached out to caress Kagome's bone-white cheek.

She did not wake and her body temperature was not the only thing that was freezing. By the time Yamato and Raido had located them, the sun was near gone and Sasuke was _screaming._ Yamato had plucked the Uchiha off easily enough, he was just a battle-torn boy who had become irrational at the sight of a fallen comrade.

Raido scooped the ANBU girl up, she was small and oh so_ frail_ at the moment.

Sasuke had snapped Yamato's wrist at the sight and before Yamato could let out a violent stream of expletives, Raido was empty-handed and stupefied.

Sheathed in black, Sasuke walked achingly, step by step across the ice. "I carry her," he said quietly into the wind and clutched desperately to his chest was the limp, gangly child.

Raido and Yamato kept their distance thereafter.

Two days passed.

Snow fell, melted and then refroze into a congealed mud. Kagome did not wake. Sasuke never left her side.

"We can't get in touch with Konoha, Yamato," Genma muttered, candlelight tossing shadows across his face. "There's a storm up in the mountain pass. It'll be another couple of days at least." He set his cards down, quickly losing taste for games.

"Blood pills can only do so much," Raido said as he collected the deck, reshuffled and dealt. "We need a medic, Yamato. I think she's starting to get blood poisoning."

Yamato stiffened and cast a look over his shoulder. "Then don't say it," he ordered and swallowed thickly. "What about Hyuuga? You said you could save his hands."

"The right one will have to go if we don't get him to Konoha soon," Raido said. "The group's combined medical knowledge barely stretched beyond common sense (Scrape something, here's a band aid. Bee sting? Pull out the stinger.); only Raido subscribed to the stomach-turning, more medieval methods (Poisoned? Bleed it out. Gangrene? Cut it off.)They were still very readily utilized on the battlefield, so long as you did not mind being disfigured in the process. "I can cauterize the wound—"

Yamato let out a very audible groan. "We _cannot _amputate the Hyuuga patriarch's nephew." Did they all _want_ to be demoted?

Raido shrugged. "It was only a suggestion."

"Then what do we do, Taichou?" Genma sneered. "We need _some_ form of action."

"Wait out the storm," Yamato said as he rubbed his knitted brow. The howling winds outside had yet to subside. "Then take the girl and run her to Konoha. She's small enough to be carried—Hyuuga can run. It's only his hands that are fucked up." His voice was dead. Yamato was very_, very_ tired.

"Uchiha won't even let us go into her room, let alone touch her. What makes you think he will let us carry her all the way to Konoha?"

"She'll die otherwise," Raido replied simply. "Neither Uchiha nor Hyuuga were fully recovered."

Yamato grimaced. "Can you both stop talking so loud? He'll hear you and I can't deal with another one of his… _outbursts_." Genma's hair was still singed in the back from when he flippantly joked about giving Kagome a sponge-bath, and Raido was already pitching a nasty shiner after a comment on her survival rate. Yamato looked down at his splinted wrist and shuddered. "He outranks the both of you and has authority over his Captain's treatment due to her incapacitation. Everything has to be cleared by him, so if he thinks you two are being reckless with her, he's going to snap for real and it won't be within my jurisdiction to stop him."

Genma shook his head. "No more morbid comments. Got it."

"You know what's amazing?" Raido asked amicably, leaning back in his chair around the card table.

"No," they both chimed.

"That she's still alive."

Down the hall, there was a thunderous _crack _before the cabin shuddered and the wood of their living room's wall split, letting in a bitter draft.

"Great."

"He heard you," Genma drawled.

"Guess that means another night without heat," Raido watched as the candle guttered out. "You don't think you could ask Sasuke-kun to relight that, could you?"

Yamato wanted to scream.

…

By some form of prayer, Yamato had acquired a miracle.

Anko arrived that next morning.

Which made his restless, near hypothermic night of sleep accompanied by a cold dinner (both courtesy of the _only _Fire user within a hundred miles having a hissy fit) worth it to some degree.

It was only slightly dampened by the fact that she had come at the exact moment he had stepped outside for his morning piss.

"_Oi!"_ The kunoichi waved, the sun at her back and about a quarter mile away. _"Tenzo!"_

Yamato reeled, fumbled with his zipper and greeted her back, albeit more lax.

Anko flickered before him in the next breath. "I hope you're gonna wash your hands." A devious smile split across her lips.

"I don't pee on my hands," Yamato quipped and pocketed them anyway. "You're early."

"By a week," she breathed, a cloudlet hanging at her nostrils. "You seem stressed. What happened?"

"Our ANBU compliment was demolished."

"ANBU?" Anko was taken back as she squinted at their squat wooden cabin nestled among rimed tundra. "I've been requesting backup for this mission for weeks and the Hokage has been denying me outright. Who'd you kiss ass to?"

Yamato shook his head. "They came to escort me back, but the Hokage gave them clearance to help. They're amateurs, Anko. Just kids."

"That why they got _demolished_?" She spit her words back at him, rocked on her heels and unhooked her towering traveling pack.

Yamato watched as Anko rummaged, her violet head of hair bobbing at his knees. "Well—Tayuya's dead and Kimimaro is assumed to be."

Anko stilled for a brief moment. "You learned their names?"

"No, _they_ did."

"They _are_ tenderfoots then. Not supposed to converse with enemy, even Jounin know that," Anko stood, umber eyes darting across the tundra plane and the wan dawn-light. "So, what happened?"

"The Captain forced them into some sort of bottleneck with the glacier. She got Tayuya easily enough but she was, uh, _poisoned_…"

"Shit," Anko kicked a patch of lichen with her boots. "Anything from Orochimaru is bad. What was it? Flesh-eating? Blood cells pop like water balloons?"

"Not quite," Yamato paled. "It was an anticoagulant, made her lose a lot of blood. Too much, if Raido's medical intel is anything to account for."

"Too much?" Anko scoffed. "Even a little by Raido's gruesome standards is '_too much_.'"

"Raido is a bit of a sociopath," Yamato confessed and scratched his neck anxiously. "Anyways, how did you get through the pass? Genma said there was a blizzard."

"_There still is,"_ Anko bit out. "I was just about to tell you how it set me back two days."

"Oh," Yamato shuffled on his feet awkwardly. Anko was always so aggressive. He was only commenting on the weather. "Did you happen to bring any medical supplies?"

"Lucky you," Anko chimed and a blessed little tin box materialized in her hands. "Complete with blood pills, morphine, antibiotics— theworks_._ Even those flowery band-aids you like so much."

Gingerly Yamato took the precious supplies. The jingle of delicate glass vials came from within and his eyes remained riveted to the symmetrical red cross on its front.

"Really, do you need to jerk off to it or something?" Anko raised a brow.

"N-No," Yamato stammered out of his stupor. "I am just heavily relieved." Now that the ANBU could live for another day, his hide could remain intact from his superiors.

Anko shook her head. "You never told me the rest."

"The rest?" Yamato blinked owlishly.

Anko tapped her boot expectantly on the frozen peat.

"Oh right, well—"

A bedraggled Genma happened to bumble out of the cabin door not a second later.

Anko's attention flicked from one to the other, and her gaze went from inquisitive to frighteningly voracious. She flickered out of sight—

"Oh no."

—only to appear in front of Genma, drape an arm across his neck and pull him close.

"Ah look at this, I caught myself a _mouse_," Anko purred.

Genma looked at her lazily and yawned. "Hello Anko," he said dryly.

Anko tittered. "Been awhile, Genma, wanna _catch up_?"

Genma slipped out of the noose that was Anko's grip. "No thanks. Bit early for _that_."

Unaffected, Anko waved him off. "You'll come by later, it's been what—three weeks since I've been here?"

"I thought you said you bedded Shisui?" Genma rolled his senbon over his tongue. "You were bragging about it."

"Pfft, he's got a girl now, didn't you hear?" Anko crossed her arms dejectedly. "Kakashi's student, Konoha's little cherry blossom, is all grown up," she sneered.

"S-Sakura?" Yamato reeled. "And Uchiha Shisui, as in _Shunshin no Shisui?_"

"Is there any other?" Anko shot Yamato a dry look. "Yeah, and if you think that's surprising wait until you hear the rumors about Itachi and his new little tryst."

Genma guffawed. _"No way."_

Anko was smug. "Oh, the rumors aren't nearly as bad as the truth. She's _young_."

"So is Itachi," Genma quipped.

"No, I mean young as in its some illegal sort of shit," Anko strolled back to her pack, at the base of Yamato's heels and fastened up the leather straps before hoisting up on her shoulder once more. "And get this, his little brother and Uzumaki are getting a little close to her too."

"And here I thought they were gay," Genma sighed. "Damn, I owe Shisui three thousand ryo now…"

"How do you know this?" Yamato quirked his head at the kunoichi.

Anko shrugged and the motion was strained from under her trench coat and bundles straps. "I've been training with them. You know Sasuke is in ANBU."

"Wait. You mean Uchiha is on the same team with her," Genma clarified and his tone soared a few octaves. _"Yamato—!" _Genma's voice crumbled in his throat. There was only _one_ girl on Uchiha's team.

Yamato felt a new pang of anxiety wash through him. "Oh, crap."

"What?" Anko tossed glances between the two men. "You guys are scaring the shit out of me. What's this new revelation?"

Yamato ran a heavy hand over his grimacing features. "Our ANBU compliment…our _demolished_ ANBU compliment _is_ Uchiha Sasuke's team."

"And I'm pretty sure Uchiha Itachi's new fancy is our very, very sick ANBU Captain…" Genma groaned. "As if we weren't going to be yelled at enough when we got back!"

"What?" Anko uttered that single syllable with the force of a tidal wave crashing into the rocks. "Don't tell me… Oh, you guys are in some deep shit, and I mean _deep_, if she dies. Uzumaki is going haywire right now because of her."

"Naruto?" Yamato sputtered out like a floundering fish. "What's wrong with him?"

"Everything!" Anko yelled. "Why do you think… Oh fuck, it makes sense now. She was probably sent to get you back, Tenzo."

"And now we're going to send her back _broken_." Genma slapped a hand across his brow. _"Great."_

"You have to heal her, Anko," Yamato said seriously and it resounded like an order. "You know some medical ninjutsu."

"We'll see," Anko trounced over to the boreal shrubs, crowberries and all. "But I am not making any promises— and I can't believe you guys didn't know who she was…" With that she made her way up the porch steps and tossed a glance over her shoulder as she lingered in the doorframe. "Anyone else here I should know about?"

"Not yet." Yamato shook his head; it was only a matter of time before he had an entire platoon at his doorstep.

"Did you _just _bring medical supplies?" Genma crooned, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

An unmarked bottle appeared in Anko's hands, she swished the clear liquid about. "You know me, flowery band-aids for Tenzo, and gin for you."

Genma mustered a lopsided smile. This was going to cost him. "Good girl."

Anko smirked. "No, Genma, I'm not."

…

Anko unpacked, which Genma _helped_ with (despite his early refusals of her) and exactly thirty-two minutes and a half bottle of gin later, they emerged sniggering from down the hall.

Yamato was pacing, thanking his foresight about building Genma the farthest room and even more so for giving Anko a bunker that was near soundproof.

Raido was meticulously adding his final tier to a rather impressive card tower when the two lovebirds stumbled in and, acting more drunk than they actually were, toppled his construction with their ruckus.

Yamato was sure Sasuke was going to go on a killing spree once he saw this.

"So then he ran to the mountains I guess and by the time we got there, poof—the mountain was gone!" Genma explained with theatrical hand motions.

"Uchiha did that?" Anko slurred and kept herself heavily leaning on Genma. Her trench coat was gone and now she was simply wearing fishnet coverings and combat pants. "That's hot."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Genma sobered a little at the sight of his dismayed Captain and a near catatonic Raido. "You want to see her now?" he suggested offhandedly, knowing that was what his Captain had been waiting so desperately for. Really, Yamato could be so spineless when it came to certain people.

Anko shrugged. "Sure. She's dy—"

Genma clapped a palm over Anko's lips. "We don't say the D-word or anything of that manner." Genma promptly released her when she licked his palm. "At least not around Uchiha."

"He hears everything," Raido said eerily.

Anko sobered and disentangled herself from Genma. "Right, I've worked with them before. Kagome is pretty protective of the little brat too." She turned on her heel, towards the adjacent hallway that lead down to the ANBU's newly constructed quarters. "Oi, Tenzo—_catch!_"

Yamato fumbled to catch the careening bottle of spirits before Anko tucked away into the dark halls.

"Three thousand ryo says she gonna come back without a finger."

Yamato sent Genma a cold look. "I'm not helping you pay back your bet to Shisui."

"C'mon…"

…

Anko could smell it.

The cloying scent of infection permeated from the room farthest down in the dark hall. It was thick, warm and sweet.

Anko shook off what little buzz her and Genma had been able to salvage. She had a high tolerance, but almost nothing could dull her senses when she had to be in action. She pushed past the door hesitantly, three muted signatures hummed and only two reacted to her.

The room was warm, windowless and dimly lit by an oddly tame hearth. Anko's eyes adjusted quickly and narrowed at the three figures. One was utterly still and small and femininely slight, laid reverently before the fire.

Another sat against the wall with bound hands tentatively resting in his lap; the embers were tossing shadows across his face and his pale eyes were a rich ochre. The third was completely masked in the shadow and his eyes were scorched, unfaltering rubies.

Sasuke's red eyes flicked to her and they were unlike anything Anko had ever seen.

She closed the door and strode across the wooden floor with resounding footfalls. "How long has she been out?" She crouched by Kagome and gently placed a hand on her forehead. The dim light was eagerly taken in by her pale flesh, making it glow unnaturally. A thin sheet of sweat had formed recently and made her flame-lit cheeks glisten. "She has a fever."

"She was near hypothermic last night," Hyuuga spoke and his voice was strained. "_Two—three days?_ I have lost count on how long she has been like this."

Anko swallowed and let her hands glow. "She's severely dehydrated and weak…" she commented absently as her chakra searched through her kidneys. She then placed a hand over the ANBU child's chest. "Heart rate is… fast. So is her breathing." She went further past the lungs, through the pulmonary veins and back to the heart. Anko froze when she felt her chakra expand throughout the circulatory system.

"What is it?" Uchiha growled, he reminded her of a once dozing jaguar, black in shadow and languid in a crouch and grumpy as hell.

Anko walked out of the room, her hands dull and no longer skittering with healing energies. Her pace was frantic and already she could feel the two ANBU at her back, streaming after her like a pair of wolves, driven on by the hot scent of prey. Only Anko was not prey.

She was Kagome's only chance at survival.

"Tenzo!" Anko roared and slammed back into the living room, knocking over Raido's latest card pyramid and garnering Genma's and Yamato's attention. "What the fuck—"

"She has blood poisoning," Raido assumed flatly from Anko's long list of expletives.

"Told you so," Genma whistled.

Yamato felt a headache swell under his crown. "Anko, Anko…" he tried to placate, but Anko was red in the face, near foaming at the mouth and still saying some very nasty things about his mother. Which was sort of ironic as Yamato never knew her.

"Shut up," Genma said rakishly and the fuming Anko ceased her tirade with a baleful glare. "You can bitch all you want but do it on your own time."

Anko chewed the inside of her cheek.

"What's the prognosis?" Raido asked amicably.

"She should be dead," Anko uttered every syllable with promise and tossed a hard look over to the Uchiha and Hyuuga slipping into the room. "You can glare at me, Uchiha, but it still doesn't change the fact."

"She heals fast," Sasuke gritted out, arms crossed and fists clenched white.

"Can she heal her own immune system?" Anko spat.

"A recovery rate from injuries is irrelevant when sepsis is concerned," Neji commented as he leaned wearily against the wall.

"I know what her healing is like, Uchiha. I've been in ANBU a lot longer than you and I sure as hell know a lot more about Kagome than you do, too," Anko continued with nostrils flaring in soft, heated breaths. She was like a bull about to charge.

Sasuke's eyes dipped to the floor, becoming slightly unfocused. Some quiet anxiety settled in his blood and he walked out of the room.

"He's just going to do nothing?" Genma said.

Neji sighed. "He feels powerless; if there is nothing any of you can do—then excuse me while I go be with my Captain." And he slipped out of the room like a pale vapor.

Anko's hard expression did not falter. "Tenzo, how did she get so bad? You can't even begin to imagine her blood right now… her immune system is _glutted_ with white blood cells…"

"Why is that so bad?" Genma shrugged.

"The immunological response causes widespread activation of acute-phase proteins, which affect the complement system and the coagulation pathways, and then cause damage to the vasculature," Raido said as he began the tedious process of setting up his cards in their first, foundational tier. He shrugged. "What? I've read an anatomy book or two."

Anko garnered blank stares from Yamato and Genma on Raido's behalf and with a sigh, she explained in layman terms, "Her organs will shut down."

"Oh, that_ is_ bad," Genma coughed awkwardly.

Yamato pinched the bridge of his nose. "You said she should be dead. What's keeping her alive, then?"

Anko tossed a cautious glance behind her. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. There's a faint trace of… foreign chakra in her blood."

"In her_ blood_?" Genma reiterated. "How is that even possible?"

"No, it is not," Raido said simply, tipping off his card tower. "Your circulatory system and chakra pathways are completely separate and are of different phases of matter."

Anko shook her head. "I don't know… all I know that treatment at this phase definitely requires more than my dinky little first aid kit—it gets better, guess whose chakra it is."

Yamato honestly did not want to know.

"Kyuubi."

…

The day passed, night fell and it was a starless one that tossed and turned most souls.

Supplies were gathered, packed up or left behind. The plan was simple: the blizzard on borderlands would break by morning or at least let up; once done, they would make a run for Konoha and be home, gods' willing, in two days.

Now they huddled around Uchiha's tame little fire, their only source of warmth, while Genma took watch. Raido was doing a run by the pass to monitor the blizzard. He would be back by morning and Genma's watch was up within the hour, but most of them were awake.

Anko was stubbornly pessimistic as she whittled down her fifth block of wood. Yamato kept her well supplied lest she start using his throat instead. Her eyes said Kagome was not going to make it.

Sasuke's eyes said if she uttered one word about, he would snip out her tongue. He left the dimly lit living room and wordlessly receded back into the dark halls to perform his fifth checkup on Kagome within the hour.

Neji slept. The medicine Anko had given him had been loaded in a syringe and stuck straight into his veins. Beautiful thing about opiates was that it kept one blissfully unaware, and it kept the battle worn under a nice, coma-laden sleep. Yamato was grateful for the Hyuuga's unconscious state, as he did not think he could handle another set of baleful eyes on him.

With Anko's treatment, Sasuke had made a staggering recovery. His chakra pathways had been fried, Anko said. Yamato had a sneaking suspicion that whatever Uchiha did to wipe that mountain with Orochimaru's vessel clean off the earth, he had not been ready for it and it had cost him, _severely_.

Yamato was fidgeting. Anko was mad at him for letting Kagome get this bad and Sasuke was outright about to murder someone if they spoke about it. Yamato tossed another plank of wood into the fire.

"It doesn't need it," Anko said flatly. "Uchiha's fire burns on its own."

"Habit," Yamato confessed. The silence, the darkness, the cold, it was starting to get to him. "You like Go Fish?"

"Kiss my ass."

Yamato sighed. "…me neither."

Sasuke reentered the room, a hand running over his scalp and his expression so hard, it looked as if it might crack. "She is getting worse."

"Of course she is," Anko quipped with flame lit eyes. "Why don't you just bring her in here?"

Sasuke did not respond, he simply slumped against the wall with eyes staring off. He was terrified to touch Kagome let alone move her.

Another hour passed, filled with the soft pops of firewood and the occasional breath.

Genma came running in a tad early for watch duty to be up. A wave of ice bitten air wafted over them and everyone in the room stiffened at a panting Genma strewn across the doorframe, the utter blackness pressed upon his back and his eyes frantic. "Someone's coming," he breathed out.

Yamato felt dread coil itself in a tight knot in his gut. "Did you recognize the signature?"

Genma nodded, his hair tossing in the wind. "I'm surprised all of you didn't notice."

"Are you sure it's not just Raido?" Anko said, eyes near feral and her kunai in hand sheering a woodblock like butter.

"Oh, I'm sure." A dopey grin split across Genma's lips.

…

"She's back here," Yamato ushered him through, his pace was frantic. "Sasuke and Anko are with her. I sent Genma to retrieve Raido."

"And Neji?" he asked.

"He's… indisposed. Opiates have a way of doing that."

A glint of confusion muddled his gaze. His eyes seemed duller to Yamato, mostly from fatigue but there was a persistent fog obscuring his familiar glow. Yamato told himself it was the lighting, or lack thereof. "How bad is she, Yamato-taichou?"

"Bad, Naruto." Yamato massaged the back of his neck, it was like flesh covered stone. "Whatever you did to her before has kept the infection in her blood from spreading."

Naruto paused, only for a moment. His eyes became riveted to the floor, and much like Sasuke's silent anxiety, Naruto's eyes were screaming.

Yamato placed a hand solidly on Naruto's shoulder. "If the Kyuubi does more than you allow him to, I'll be here."

"It's not that. I could care less on what happens to me…" Naruto swallowed hard, a bitter taste pooled on his tongue. "It's her I'm worried about. How do we know this won't hurt her? Last time I let my chakra into her, it… did something." Naruto remembered smelling blood but of a different scent, one that clawed at his senses and that could not shake the memory of. It was such an invigorating thing to smell her in heat and know he was the cause.

"Then don't do this. The Kyuubi feeds off of doubt and fear. He _will _gain control if your resolve wavers."

Naruto looked up to him, his eyes as deep as oceans. "If it saves her life, I have no doubts."

"I will have to tell Tsunade-sama about this," Yamato informed him.

Naruto nodded. "And I'll tell baa-chan you didn't stop me."

Yamato ran a hand over his weary features. He was going to be demoted for sure. "We have no idea of the long term effects… it's very shortsighted, reckless…" He was starting to doubt.

Naruto was already gone.

Anko was screaming from down the halls.

"Gods save me."

"I'm not letting you do this," Anko wedged herself stubbornly in the doorway. "You can't do something like _this_—so unprecedented, without heavy study and trial!"

"We don't have time for that," Naruto said, utterly calm. His eyes were closed, his face was drawn taut making the whisker marks on his cheeks seem jagged. His deep scarlet cloak was long, travel-worn and embroidered with black flames on the hem. His eyes opened— "Now move, Anko-san before I have to tear out your throat." _They were red._

"Oh, you better watch it, kid," Anko slammed her elbow into the doorframe and a fisted hand bloomed with shuriken petals. "I'll gut you before you can blink."

Naruto did blink, actually, and was already behind her.

Yamato burled down the hallway, hand outstretched and with a frantic motion, Yamato summoned spindly roots to spring up and coil around Anko's waist. The kunoichi was dragged down the hallway before Naruto's claws swiped at her neck. Anko wriggled under the constraints, and screamed curses at the both of them. Yamato knelt beside her, feebly trying to placate her but when Anko tried to bite off his fingers, he had no choice. Yamato pinched her carotid artery and she fell limp.

Silence filled in the darkness, a flickering light came from the room that held Kagome and Sasuke. Yamato sprinted towards it and the foreboding quietude, only to reveal Naruto's dark silhouette and Sasuke's flame-lit form.

Sasuke was folded against the wall, every muscle taut and a casual arm draped over his propped knee. His fingers were wrapped around his sword curiously and his eyes were locked onto Naruto.

"We did not leave on the best of terms," Sasuke said lowly and flicked his thumb on the hilt of his chokuto.

Yamato could not tell if that was a threat or an apology.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't have time for this… Teme, leave now."

Sasuke remained still. "I do not care what you have to do. Just do it. I will not stop you." His eyes flicked up and they were lambently scarlet. "But I _stay_."

"Fine," Naruto conceded and tossed a glance over his shoulder.

Yamato froze at the pair of feral eyes, near unrecognizable and laced red.

"Yamato-taichou, keep a good distance, please." Naruto knelt down and felt his heart nearly break at the sight of her. He could feel Kyuubi's senses droning through his, and what little scent she had reeked of sickness. Naruto knew that she was at the precipice: she would either live or die tonight.

'_**She will not die,'**_ the Kyuubi growled and there was such an urgency— such a panic in the fox's presence that if he startled the demon any further, the beast would lose it and in turn, so would he. _**'She has survived far worse, but her own power is waning. She needs mine.'**_

"I am ready," Naruto whispered and let his hand cup Kagome's face. She glowed in the firelight, and her flesh was so soft beneath his nails. The tips of his claws coursed along her jaw line and plucked at her throat and like the thinnest of barriers, tore it open. A single bead of blood swelled at her pulse, but Naruto dragged his claw further… deeper…

"Naruto…" Sasuke's voice was venomous. His sword attested to that.

"I know what I'm doing," Naruto gritted out and felt his palm flush with the warm liquid. He kept his palm placed solidly on her and did not dare take it away. "Kyuubi…" he summoned the fox—

He was standing knee-deep in water, at the base of a cage and within the antechamber of his demon.

Before him, Kagome's small unconscious form floated within the murky waters. Her eyes were open, blank and staring into the yawning darkness. Her prostrated throat was bared and a dark cloud drifted into the water from the split at her jugular.

The Kyuubi's massive form twitched in anticipation behind the cage. His paws unfolded and his tails stilled as the beast gathered itself up and Naruto watched as the tailed-beast did the most movement in _years._

"Save her," Naruto pleaded and immediately felt his knees give way. He sank to her, gathered Kagome to him and held her close. The fox's preternatural senses still thrummed through him and he could sense her very life essence coursing through her veins, waning with each passing second. _"Kyuubi!" _he screamed at the fox's inactivity.

Kyuubi was pacing, eyes feral and riveted to the small creature within his host's clutches. _"So long, since I have seen with my own eyes… so long have I waited…"_

"Fuck—_stop messing around!_ Do something!"

"_You brought me to her and now I will keep my end of the bargain, kit."_ A crescent of fangs split across black lips. _"Now, this may hurt…"_

A wave of red bloodcurdling chakra raced forth and washed over Naruto in an instant. He felt it bubble on his skin and invade every space of existence, pouring in and drowning out everything else.

Naruto screamed and the acrid chakra gushed down his throat. It filled his body with a terrible ache, as if his heart had been ripped out and replaced with a yawning void that burned and _hungered_…

He became a beast, a demon.

In that moment, Naruto had sold away his soul.

…

Kagome had been walking for an eternity.

Timid piddle paddles on water filled her ears. Her footsteps had long since lost their silence, for it was the silence that drove her mad.

The sun droned overhead. It beat down on her back, dripped into her flesh and down to muscle and sinew before settling into her bones—_baking them dry._ Kagome laid a palm across her forehead, forming a visor and shield for her eyes against the harsh sun.

She looked over the endless tides of her dreamscape. She had never been _trapped_ in her own mind before, nor had she been within her own mindset for this long. Being a Genjutsu master always allowed her to come and peruse _for a time_ and always by her own _free will._

But not this time, no, this time every time she willed herself to leave, the waters simply outstretched and dragged her _down._

Kagome blew at her still dripping bangs. Her skin was sticky with brine and the sun's heat was not helping matters.

_Why did my subconscious have to make my mind so realistic?_

Only a half of a day with Sakura and Inoichi had caused her to become restless. She did not like to be here. It reminded her of what she could never have again.

A past.

Now she had spent days _at least_ in this space, this endless ocean that lay on top of her past and lost memories, and she was feeling wearier than ever.

She dipped down to the ocean's surface. Its still waters undulated underneath her touch and responded accordingly.

Memories, all recent, flooded to the surface. Faces danced across as clear as the sunlight's reflection. _Naruto's smile, Shisui's kind grey eyes, Sakura's soft healing hands_…

Words drifted past as well, snippets of conversations, whispered words…

'Tobi…'

The name drifted to the surface in a great sigh, _over and over_.

"The man with the mask, you're pursuing me…_but why?"_ she asked the waters idly.

Doubts laced themselves with sunlight and bubbled up to the surface.

'_If you want to live… run away and never go near Uchiha Itachi ever again.'_

'_You should get far away from the weasel, little one. Just as well, abandon his little brother.'_

Kagome slapped a hand across the waters, shattering the voices. Feelings crawled over her skin. Itachi's hands on her ribs, tracing over and over… Naruto nuzzling into her neck with the deepest affection she had ever received… Sasuke strewn across her with apologies written in his eyes.

"I won't leave them," she promised.

A far off growl of thunder perked her ears and Kagome stood. A dark shadow of a storm loomed on the oceans' horizon. Storms always were there but she never dared to get caught within a maelstrom of her own mind. She had had her fill of metaphors.

Kagome turned on her heel and walked in the other direction, where sunbeams spilled past and towering columns of clouds formed nebulous cathedrals. The dark thunderheads crawled along the horizon behind her. . .

But it was not so, for in an instant a great wave surged from the storm and was upon her. The great wall of water stalled for a moment when Kagome cringed under its shadow and then it _boiled—_

Red frothing liquid took its place, as if someone had bled a thousand corpses dry and tossed them into the ocean. The smell was vile but Kagome could not place it.

Her knees turned into watery things that collapsed, and Kagome became ill at the very sensation of being swarmed by this noxious liquid.

The wave molded and soon bubbled to a head of the fox, with a wicked simper splitting across its black lips and feral eyes fixed on her crumpled form.

"_**Found you,"**_ snickered a baritone.

Kagome found it near impossible to breathe. "You're… You're going to _kill me!" _She felt her hands collide with the water's surface. Her dreamscape was trembling with the Bijuu's presence. "I'm not ready for this… _**get out—!**__" _she began to scream in agony. The Kyuubi's chakra was excruciating.

Kyuubi's leer faltered. _"So weak, you can barely stand in my presence… your power is so very hidden—you are nothing compared to what you once were."_

Kagome felt her body seize up and the saltwater beneath her lurch, ready to drag her down…

"_Keep strong, miko,"_ the Kyuubi warned. _"My power will awaken yours. I can break this seal—"_

"No, I will not receive a demon's help!" Kagome felt her body sinking into the oceans.

"_Do you feel that, pup?"_ the Kyuubi observed as the girl became wan and sickly looking. _"Your physical body is catching up to your wandering spirit. You will die if you do not accept my aid. I have already set my chakra in your blood, miko, now I need your consent to completely implement my power to awaken yours." _

"I do not understand—"

"_Much like how birds learn to use their wings, pup,"_ the Kyuubi's form grew to more than just a frothing mass but a translucent cloud of noxious chakra. _"You must fall in order to learn how to __**fly!"**_

"So you flood my system with enough _evil _to hopefully find some _good_ to oppose it?" Kagome scoffed. "And if you don't find my power source? If you do not break the seal or whatever the hell you call this _ocean_ in the middle of _my brain!" _

"_I cannot break the seal yet, your physical body is too weak to withstand the process… for now, all I can do is weaken it—let just enough of your sealed power through to save your pathetic mortal shell and let you live for another day." _

"What about memories?" Kagome choked out, feeling cold water slosh down her back as she was dragged down further. "Will I remember something? If you weaken the seal something must slip through."

"_It is… possible you may remember a … __**snippet **__of your past." _A tail of chakra reached out of the Kyuubi's amorphous form and lifted her up to eye level. She no longer touched the waters, but the Kyuubi's essence made her skin ache. _"I must have your consent, pup."_

"I'll refrain from asking why…. Seeing as we don't have much time." _So many questions_, her head was buzzing and she could feel a fever creep over her. Her body was deathly sick; she did not have much time left. "I will, only if you swear to release as much memory as possible in the process, Kyuubi. I am not done with you in the least." This demon had too much information about the seal on her memories and foreign power.

"_I expect this to be the first of many conversations, miko,"_ the Kyuubi leaned forward, irises scorched vermillion. "_For I know_ _**everything**__."_

Kagome could barely let out a scream before the Kyuubi dove into the oceanic depths of her mind and dragged her deep down with the same mantra droning through her mindset.

_Hold your breath, hold your breath…_

Everything she had ever once known lay at the bottom—

Sunlight fled, dark waters spilled into her lungs, she was drowning within the claws of the demon.

Just when she felt her lungs were about to explode, a small light burst into her vision like a thousand suns. The pink light spilled through the water and brought sweet relief to her being. The Kyuubi's presence jolted and the demon shuddered around her in pain.

The Kyuubi pressed forth anyway and gripped her tighter. Into the light Kagome felt a beautiful sensation—

_Power._

Her own power.

Blood red claws reached forth into the light and Kagome watched as they were burned by its contact.

_Purity._

It was then, a single 'snippet' drifted past, the slightest of whispers escaped the seal—

_Memory._

Kagome screamed into the waters with her last breath.

_A name._

"_Sesshoumaru!" _

She remembered now, if only a little.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Three days from now, on Saturday, August 13th I will post Kagome's memory as well as announce the updating date for Chapter 30. I am doing this because the following memory of Sesshoumaru will reveal… **a lot** and only if one reads _**carefully**_. Hence I am doing it separately to avoid the casual skimmer and get a slew of unnecessary questions. Chapter 31 has yet to be finished but know that Kagome's past will be revealed, very, very soon. Since questions are inevitable I will post Q&A on my profile which will last no more than 72 hours as of August 13th. Thank you for reading. ~KK

**Warning:** If I receive SPAM whether positive or negative, then know I will promptly block the user/disable anonymous reviews. I know some of are very enthusiastic to appease the update schedule but know I've never counted them and I never will, so you're repeated reviews are meaningless.

…

_Update Schedule_

75+ = _Wednesday,_ **August 24**(two weeks)

45+= _Wednesday_, **September 7**(One month)

30+= _Wednesday_, **October 5(**Two months)

20+= _Wednesday_, **November 2**(Three months)

10 or less= _bye bye!_ (eternal)


	30. Interlude: The Demon Prince

**Author's Note: **There are many 'hints' in the following vignette. Please read carefully and most of all, enjoy. ~KK

* * *

**_~Memoirs of a Prodigy~_**

_Interlude: The Demon Prince_

* * *

She remembers…

_The smell of pollen, the sight of frosted plum-buds, a cold spring, the rustle of silk on stone, the heavy footsteps of a demon…_

_Kagome turns to her name. "Sesshoumaru," she chirps and plucks up her kimono. The fabric is a crisp, cold ivory marked by a spindled helix of scarlet honeycomb and flowers. "InuYasha is with Kikyo-nee again," she pouts and smashes her sandals on nascent daisies. _

_She looks up and the sun is his halo. Kagome smiles at his radiance._

_Sesshoumaru was not unlike a god to her._

"_Midoriko instructed you to not wander, Hime," he says and his voice is so, so cold. His eyes are warm though, like liquid sunlight. _

"_I don't care what haha-ue says," she twiddles her thumbs. "I don't wanna train. I don't wanna be with InuBaka."_

_A silent movement and those beautiful hands of his rise to the bridge of his nose and pinch it. Kagome fixates on his claws, the translucent flesh, the blue lace of veins beneath, the violet markings…_

"_Very well… for now," he concedes so easily to her and with a rustle of silk, armor, swords and fur he settles himself next to the toddler too articulate for her own good. "Sit."_

_And like a pup, she does and pulls his kimono sleeve over her knees like a blanket. "Sesshoumaru?"_

"_Hm?" the sound he makes is so deep she swears the earth will split. _

"_Why do you and InuBaka have swords?"_

"_To repay a debt," he says and Kagome remembers when those fangs used to seethe with bitterness and venom. "You know this."_

"_Hai, but InuBaka says you do it to protect me and nee-sama." _

"_Kikyo's existence is inconsequential, you are the heir, Hime. Do not let her presence rile you so."_

_He was avoiding the question."Do you kill with a sword, Sesshoumaru?" _

_He glances down, his ethereal profile bows to the sheathed sword at his hip, the woven hilt, the embroidered obi coiled around. "Not with this one, no."_

_Kagome smiles. She knew this as well. She is so smart! "What does it do then?"_

_His eyes drift to her and she feels the weight of the world upon her tiny shoulders. "It once was able to save a hundred with one stroke… now it has but enough power to save one. It is a curse of my house, Hime. You know this as well." _

_Kagome shrinks into rimed grass, smashed daisies and silk. "Is it meant to save me, Sesshoumaru? Am I going to die?" That is what was lying in her mind, creeping in the back of her thoughts. Kikyo whispered wicked things sometimes and they weighed on her. _

"_If this Sesshoumaru does not falter from duty, no, Hime, you will not and this sword will remain unused."_

"_Good, now can we go find InuBaka?"_

"_This Sesshoumaru will not."_

"_But I want you to! He was mean to me today."_

"_And what will this Sesshoumaru do once said half-breed is found?"_

_Kagome shrugs. "Make him cry."_

"_And what will you in exchange for this Sesshoumaru's service?"_

"_I'll scratch behind your ears again."_

"_Very well."_

_And he rises with the swell of sunlight and she follows closely behind…_

_Servitude never was so innocent._

* * *

**Info:** Haha-ue is a formal version for 'mother' (Kagome's mother's name is Midoriko) and –nee is a the honorific for elder sister. Hime means princess. This storyline is AU. That means the Narutoverse and IYverse are completely interwoven and this storyline is ORIGINAL. Don't rely on the canon for any assumptions or basis, because none of it applies in this story. That's why it's so much fun:) because you guys will never ever ever guess what I have in store for you;)

**Author's Note:** Huh, well my morale just plummeted with that review number. I'm quite torn at the moment, so I guess I'll give you guys another chance to review by adding this count atop of the other one because as it is… the next update would be scheduled for **October 5****th**. That is two months away. I leave it up to you guys and as always if people far exceed my expectations… I just happen to 'update' instantaneously. ~KK

**Side-Note:** For all those who continually stand by me and have supported this behemoth of a story I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I read every single review and appreciate your support greatly. I love you all!


	31. These Tattered Memoirs

**Author's Note:** I never say never but this will be the last you hear of me in a long while. My profile has been updated accordingly. But as a last farewell, I have updated everything I can. ~KK

* * *

**~Chapter Thirty~**

_These Tattered Memoirs..._

* * *

I've been hearing the soft step of the gray-eyed governess  
but I know you know the physical form of moaning alarms coming from the air force base  
a skinless and sinewy leviathan all terrible contraction and release  
debasement ringed in banner plane exhaust and scattering v's of geese  
someday my body's gonna fail me  
then prostrate maybe in my back yard  
with my family's screams muted by the pounding rush  
the high shrinking sun will be eclipsed  
by heaving rainbows of flesh  
a chrysalis of tissues from thinning air  
so my eyes will be wide open 'cause there's no light.

_ –Definite Darkness_

* * *

Kagome watched a shaft of morning light pierce the darkness of the room. She rose with the dawn and padded her way through the halls. She stepped out onto the porch steps and found herself with a lungful of cold air. The morning was indigo-lit and the cold bit into her lungs with each breath. She stepped off the wooden steps and let her bare feet wiggle in the frozen loam until they were numb.

A memory.

_Sesshoumaru, Sesshoumaru, Sesshoumaru…_

It was so brief but the Kyuubi had managed to pry it free from within the dark depths of her mind and had gifted it to her.

And it was the most precious gift she had ever received.

It was crisp, it was more than a haunting phrase or a blurred face.

It was—

"Sesshoumaru," she whispered and felt such satisfaction in it.

"Who is he?" Neji appeared in the doorway, pale as a ghost and just as silent.

Kagome started and swallowed hard. "A warrior," she said firmly and spun on her heel to face him.

"You walk… _loudly,_ now," Neji _complained _as he sent an accusatory glance to her bare feet. "You used to be silent when you stepped."

Kagome shrugged and wiggled her numb toes. "Ever since I remembered Sesshoumaru I don't feel like I have to keep on pretending."

Neji raised a brow. "Pretending?"

Kagome nodded. "I'm not supposed to be a shinobi and I'm definitely meant to be a ANBU. I always was sure no one could hear my footsteps… or sense my chakra. I always walked quietly, always kept my chakra suppressed." Her eyes dashed to the horizon, where the sun peaked over in a wispy pink sliver. "I memorized every cipher and rule when I entered ANBU, wore black and kept to the regulations. I talked to people as coldly as I could… all so I could pretend not to be what I am."

"And what are you?" Neji stepped off the wooden step, his bound fingers brushed against the doorframe. He had managed some movement through Anko's healings.

Kagome looked down to her numb little toes. "A scared little girl." She looked up with a smile and it Neji nearly startled at the sight. "He used to protect me, you know… then something happened—when Madara killed my family he was not there for some reason… I remember… I remember wanting to know where he was. I ran. My mother told me to run—something happened and my mother did the only thing that she could have done. She sealed away everything in me and hid me, or at least she thought…"

"Uchiha Madara is dead," Sasuke's voice sliced through the air. "You should be resting."

Neji tossed a look to the Uchiha, ever since Kagome had awoken from her 'miraculous' recovery, Sasuke was always on her heels.

"Naruto snores," Kagome quipped. Her Jinchuuriki had been utterly exhausted after Kyuubi's chakra had been sent through her system and had refused to sleep unless she was curled close to his chest. Kagome remained sleepless in Naruto's grasp with Sasuke watching throughout most of the night. It was not until morning that Kagome was able to slip away, but Sasuke was much too uneasy with the whole situation to not follow. "I'm fine, Sasuke."

"Get inside, Kagome," Sasuke said.

Kagome quirked her head. "You know, Sesshoumaru never ordered me around."

Sasuke's right hand, lodged on the doorframe and flexed white at the knuckles. There she went again. She had been mumbling most of the night about this 'Sesshoumaru'. "Kagome—," Sasuke uttered low. _"Get the fuck inside."_

Something sharp snapped through the air and Sasuke felt it knot in his eyes. Sasuke's brow furrowed in a slight wince. "Are you going to blind me?" he asked slowly. _Just as you did with my brother?_

Kagome's eyes were dark as the ocean at night. "Tell me what to do again—"

Neji snatched Kagome's wrist, breaking her deathly stare. "Stop."

The energy in the air dissipated and Kagome looked up to the Hyuuga with a startled expression. Kagome sent a frantic look to Sasuke, now sobered from her lapse; she disappeared into the dark cabin. A door slammed far down within the halls.

"It is the Kyuubi's influence. She is not… stable," Neji sufficed. "You should ignore her, not prompt her." Kagome would be prone to violent outbursts much like Naruto and Uchiha's attitude was not helping matters.

"Can you see it?" Sasuke muttered and cast a long look into the dark expanse of the cabin.

Neji nodded. "—with my Byakugan. The energy permeates the area around her—an aura of sorts before lashing out. Her chakra also completely disappears in the process."

"And Kyuubi's chakra?" Sasuke asked distantly, eyes near vacant.

"It is still… within her blood," Neji admitted, as crazy as it sounded. "But it is fading. Her own energy is causing a gradual decline and in the process healing what damage has been done." Meaning the Kyuubi's influence had forced her dormant heritage to slip past its seal and what was awoken, would not be put to sleep again. "The Kyuubi's chakra is what has kept her alive."

Sasuke let out a long, strained breath through his nostrils. "Why her blood?"

Neji shrugged. "Blood is one's life source and this dormant power of hers seems to be intertwined with her life energies. The Kyuubi knows something, Uchiha. It is far too precise for it be by chance."

Sasuke did not respond.

"Your Sharingan? You cannot see it," Neji stated at his brooding teammate.

"Only Kyuubi's chakra—_faintly_, but her…" Sasuke shook his head, feeling irritation creep under his skull. "—_power_ is completely invisible to my Bloodline Limit."

Neji nodded. "Once Yamato-taichou awakens—"

"I will ensure he monitors her, Hyuuga," Sasuke cut him off. "As well as Naruto." He would not allow Kyuubi to have _both_ of them.

Neji shook his head, pale eyes dipping to the earth and chestnut hair slipping past his shoulders. "I would advise otherwise, Uchiha."

"Why?" Sasuke's eyes snapped up.

"Both of them are in… very fragile states of mind. To put them under severe surveillance would invoke rebellion and very possibly— violent outbursts. The preferred course of action is delicate handling and a swift return to Konoha."

Sasuke's eyes drifted to the sun's rising as it marked its blood red path.

"As of now, we should regard the mission at hand as having _two _unstable Jinchuuiki."

…

Kagome plopped down on the cold wood and brought her knees to her chest.

Naruto was still asleep.

She irritably blew at her bangs and prodded her Jinchuuriki with her still slightly numb big toe. Her Jinchuuriki remained prone and snoring. Sasuke's firelight dimmed and soon Kagome was shrouded in darkness, with only the faintest wisps of morning light drifting into the windowless rooms.

Anko was already in the doorway. "Hey, kid."

Kagome did not move an inch, least of all respond.

The heavy footfalls of Anko's boots reverberated on the floor as she approached and crouched beside the ANBU child. Anko's hands glowed a dulled viridian haze for a minute's time. "You're making a remarkable recovery," she commented glibly. "So, mind speaking up as to what the fuck happened last night?"

Kagome's eyes slid to grace Anko with a pitying stare. "Why would I tell _you_?"

"You have enough of the demon's chakra in your blood to make most shinobi go insane and yet you're able to hold a conversation?" Anko shook her head. "Look at the idiot now—" she pointed at the comatose Naruto. "He's utterly wiped and I'm betting the Kyuubi is even thinking twice right now for how much chakra is in you."

Kagome shrugged. "I can handle it."

"I know," Anko responded dryly and began to hover over the Jinchuuriki with the gaze of akin to a vulture. "That's what freaking us all the fuck out."

Kagome caught Anko straying hands. "Please don't touch him," she whispered.

"Tenzo is going to be up soon, he'll have to check the seal."

Kagome rested her chin on her knees. "I'll be here, but you touching him is unnecessary," she dismissed the kunoichi.

"You know you're weakening his seal, right?" Anko raised a brow. "Every time you prompt the Kyuubi to intervene you make Uzumaki's lifespan shorter. Jinchuuriki only last a handful of decades, kid, there has yet to be one who dies of _old age_."

Kagome's eyes darkened. "You think I don't know that?"

"So, if the Kyuubi is your only key to remembering or unlocking some weird Kekkei Genkai, then isn't it selfish to make Uzumaki solely pay for it?"

"I can heal it," Kagome muttered. "Once I unlock all of my powers I will be able to reseal the Kyuubi."

"If that was true, then why is Kyuubi be helping you?" Anko stood and looked down at the ANBU child cloaked in darkness. "The demon knows something, kid, and we all know what the demon wants…"

_Freedom._

The demon's tongue rolled over old words of the past. _'I expect this to be the first of many conversations, miko. For I know_ _**everything**__.'_

_Now, only remains the price Kyuubi will set for such information_, Kagome thought as she stared at Naruto's protruding canines, jagged whisker-marks and clawed fingertips. "The Kyuubi may be manipulative, but so am I."

"True, you may be clever, but there's a difference between you and a demon— you have a conscience holding you back."

Kagome got to her feet in a stiff motion, albeit wobbly in her knees."That conscience allows me to overcome the Kyuubi's influence. It's not some burden that weighs me down, Anko, it is my weapon." Kagome stepped forward, the soles of her feet dragged across wood. "Here, let me show you."

Anko stiffened like a wildcat suspicious of a free meal. "Show me _what_?"

A small smile curved along Kagome's lips. "I can sense… things now—beyond chakra. I can see people's essences—their auras and yours has a very dark stain on it."

Anko shifted on her feet. "Where?" Anko asked pointedly. "Tell me where you see this taint."

Kagome's eyes squinted and even in the darkness Anko could make out their murky depths. "There," Kagome pointed at Anko's neck.

Anko's hand immediately went up to cup the back of her neck; for buried beneath the layers of fabric and flesh lay Anko's deepest secret. A playful simper split across her lips and in a rustle of fabric, she unsheathed an arm out of her trench coat and pulled down her protective mesh. "You _are_ clever." Anko bared her neck and within a circlet of inky tomoe lay a Curse Mark. "There was a reason why I came out here, kid. I have a personnel vendetta with Orochimaru and his vessel was supposed to be the key to that."

"You were Orochimaru's subordinate?" Kagome asked hesitantly as she approached the kunoichi. "Kimimaro and the Sound Four all had Curse Marks."

"I was never a subordinate," Anko spat. "I was his student and he was my _beloved_ sensei but sensei left me to die despite surviving the process, all because I did not have the 'lust for power' as he called it."

"It's dormant," Kagome observed as she let her fingers stroked the marked flesh. Her hand was chased away by the stinging sensation the Curse Mark brought to her fingertips. It was a powerful taint. "But it still bothers you?"

"I may not have the psychotic drive to fuel it, but it still acts as a curse to my psyche and a mark for Orochimaru to always track me with."

"Do you want to be rid of it?"

Anko stared down at the ANBU child. _"W-what?"_

…

None of this would have happened if he had been stronger.

The same strain of thought ran through his mind, leaving sore paths through his psyche and a tired mantra carved within. Sasuke watched, perched atop an outcropping as they moved Naruto outside of the cabin for Yamato-taichou to poke and prod at to his heart's content. The Dobe was still unconscious and once noon had toppled to its zenith, everyone was done with waiting.

Kagome was hovering nearby, watching as Genma and Raido hefted the Jinchuuriki outside and into a soft bed of peat. Anko was on the outskirts of camp, uncharacteristically pale, silent and always clutching at her neck as if it had been slit. Yamato nervously orchestrated the Jinchuuriki's placement, directing Genma and Raido with commands that made him resemble a gasping cod.

Hyuuga kept his distance as well, but was always a scant meter off from Kagome. He was watchful and would signal to Sasuke if she so much as blinked wrong.

From Kagome's new uptake to pacing, she knew what they were up to but was far too preoccupied with Genma's fondling of Naruto's whiskered cheeks to do much.

Sasuke ran a whetstone along the rim of his blade. His chokuto sang with each movement.

A flutter of black feathers darted into his peripheral and Sasuke watched as Tengu landed on a jutting rock alongside him.

"Tengu," Sasuke greeted apathetically, eyes still locked onto Kagome's small form below.

Itachi's summon folded his wings and regarded the scene below. "Kagome-danna's healing has left us in a great debt," the bird's deep voice hummed. Its beak did not move.

"You should not have allowed her to," Sasuke replied hotly. "Her powers are new, untrained; they make her unstable—dangerous." Sasuke's Sharingan flicked to the crow. "My brother would not like you encouraging her. Do you understand, Tengu?"

_Do not let it happen again. _

There was an incline of the head, akin to a bow. "Of course, Sasuke-danna."

Sasuke's gaze returned to the scene below. Raido and Genma were securing chakra tags on Naruto's forearms and Kagome was just as well, tearing them off. "If I had been there—if I had been quick enough to kill _both_ of the Oto-nin, Kagome would have never been injured so severely," Sasuke muttered into the wind, eyes locked onto the horizon and looming glacier overhead. "Then Naruto would not have had to intervene." And Kagome would not have the Kyuubi's influence swimming through her blood. "She would have remained blissfully ignorant of this… _Sesshoumaru,_" Sasuke seethed.

"You do not wish Kagome-danna to regain her memories?" Tengu quirked his head, a beady black eye and an implanted Sharingan stared at Sasuke.

"Not if they change her," Sasuke murmured as he sheathed his sword in a blurring helix. "She is different and will proceed to be." He laced his fingers under his chin. "I must act to stop this. My brother—I do not know what he has planned but I believe he would agree…"

"Then you plan to stop this?"

Sasuke nodded, neck stiff and eyes dark. "I can curve Kyuubi's influence if I separate her from Naruto…"

But he needed to be in Konoha to accomplish such a task.

…

"Done," Yamato exhaled a shaky breath.

Kagome sank to Naruto's side, knees at his ribs and hands on his jaw line. She watched as his markings became smoother, less jagged and as his nails receded back to blunt edges. "Naruto." She tilted her head, like a cat inspecting her mouse.

His eyes opened, closed and then reopened. Pupils dilated, shrank and rounded out. The irises seeped blue and were bloodless. "Kagome-chan?"

She smiled and let out a strangled, sad laugh. She fell into his chest. "I swore the Kyuubi stole you away from me," she whispered into his skin. She smelled wood smoke and copper.

Naruto sat up and felt every muscle scream. Kagome slipped off and pooled before him. He looked numbly down at his palm and flexed the aching joints. The severe depletion of Kyuubi's chakra had left his body ravaged. "Wow… I had…horrible nightmares."

Kagome blinked. "So did I…"

Naruto's eyes flicked up, scanning the horizon and the boreal landscape. "Where is Sasuke?" He could not sense him anywhere.

Kagome's head tossed around. Yamato gave a shrug and Anko looked too unconcerned to even notice. Raido and Genma were far off in the distance, traipsing about the hillsides just about to go on their rounds. Neji looked completely mystified from his watchful perch from the roof.

Kagome frowned and cast a murderous glance to the withering sky. "I'm going to kill him…"

…

When the blizzard finally broke, the group dissembled camp and set out for the pass. Yamato dismantled the cabin with a stroke of a hand seal while Genma took inventory. Raido packed most of the supplies and Anko took to condensing down the food stores. Neji took watch, once stumbling upon a traveling caravan of farmers fleeing winter and another negotiating with Shimo-nin that they did in fact _have _clearance to be within their borders _and_ were moving on.

Naruto was weak and although Kagome argued valiantly, she was as well. The Kyuubi's chakra burned in Kagome's veins and left scars in Naruto's chakra system.

However, Kagome was growing _stronger._

Each passing day brought a new talent. She was able to kiss a scrape bloodless, reconnect a severed rabbit's foot and even eradicate Genma's mysterious allergy to peanuts. Sometimes at night when Naruto awoke to her gone and the night much too cold and restless…

He would find her staring up at the moon; fingertips alit with a pink glow, toying with some gossamer light.

Traveling through the pass was unlike most ventures. Kagome reminisced that it was like a portal, the mountain pass was eerily silent and empty. Animals fled or hid from the blizzard and now the landscape was caked in a seamless blue-white.

Trees shouldered impressive weights of snow and the land rolled on and on, _untouched_. Their group led on in a solemn procession of cloaked nin and trampled paths, scarring the land with their very presence.

Once through the pass, they began their descent and watched as the frozen earth slowly moistened and greened. Pines slipped to cedar and leafless birches. Snow gave way to swells of scarlet orange leaves. Ice melted and the air warmed to a sweet autumn musk.

Winter was on their heels and their trek took three days to reach Konoha.

It was not until Kagome glimpsed the village gates pressing up from the horizon did she think…

_How much damage has Sasuke caused in our absence? _

…

In the bowels of Konoha nested a gritty little bar promptly named the _Hissing Kunoichi_ for its patrons were known to be anything but civil.

There were few places that truly segregated civilian from ninja and the Hissing Kunoichi was one of them. It was an old stomping ground for middle aged, sexually repressed shinobi who were in a bit of a rut in _all _aspects of life. And it was here that Nara Shikaku took his lax pleasures, his drink along with a bit of solace and hazed mental contemplation.

A glass decanter provided a fisheye outlook of the dimly lit room. Wisps of smoke curled around patrons and seeped into the fabric of Shikaku's vest. Yoshino would know with the first whiff of him where he had been and although Shikaku never partook in such debaucheries, she would give him hell for even being in the vicinity of some.

With a long drawn breath Shikaku tapped his saucer to be topped off by the bartender. Wordlessly the man did and Shikaku tipped back his head in the same ragged rhythm—

Until someone sat alongside him.

Shikaku paused, set down his drink on the scuffed counter and gave the _personal space invader_ a fitful glare.

But that too was dashed from Nara Shikaku's actions as he found himself staring at none other than Uchiha Fugaku's son.

"Sasuke," Shikaku nodded over to the young one. "Last I heard you and Kagome were sent out on a very dicey mission. You're not due back for at least another week."

"Early withdrawal," Sasuke remedied the Nara's suspicions. Though unbeknownst to Shikaku, Sasuke's withdrawal was a bit earlier than the rest of his squad. "I came to speak with you, Shikaku_-san_."

"I've never heard you use an honorific beyond your kin or with the Hokage, boy. " Shikaku sipped his sake gingerly. "What do you want?"

"Enough for me to buy you another." Sasuke rose his index and middle and flicked the air idly. The bartend appeared and a fresh decanter was placed onto the countertop. "I came to discuss the rumor of a betrothal between Kagome and I."

"It's hardly a rumor," Shikaku scoffed knowing he had no hopes of appearing even a tad sober to Yoshino now. "My clan has already received the missives. Your father visited me personally last week. The terms of your betrothal are anything but acceptable and you should know by now that no man responds kindly to blackmail of his own daughter."

An exchange of glances was made. Shikaku surveyed the Uchiha's appearance. He looked paler, underfed and possibly still recovering from heavy chakra depletion as his movements were pained in the joints and the hands were chafed raw from countless hand signs. Though he was freshly scrubbed and smelled of soap and sword oil, he still had charred bits of hair and minor scrapes unhealed along his jaw line.

The Uchiha was still in recovery and tried to obscure this fact by dark clothes, long sleeves and a high collar but Shikaku caught glimpses of a trembling wrist and prominent collarbone that seemed to concave with every movement. He had been within the village for at least a day by the looks of his hygiene but his lingering battle worn appearance spoke otherwise.

This meant that if Uchiha Sasuke had enough to take a bath and a nap before visiting, then his father, Uchiha Fugaku sure as hell could have exchanged a few words with him as well.

And like most things in life, Nara Shikaku was painfully correct.

"From what I just gathered from my brief conversation with him, my father did not blackmail you."

Shikaku gulped the saucer's entirety into the back of his throat. "I hardly expected you to be unbiased. So is that all you wish to speak to me about? How your father is right and I am not."

"No." Sasuke swiveled in the barstool and swirled his own saucer. The hazed lights reflected lambently in the liquid and right back into the fathomless darks of the Uchiha's eyes. "I have come to give my own personal reasons."

"On how you disapprove?" Shikaku stabbed at the dark with that one. It was no secret the Uchiha brothers were infamous for their good looks, talents and apathy towards all things _female._ "I do not care or wish to know how disgusting this situation might find you. Or how my daughter is beneath you."

Sasuke's brow seemed to knot even further with each time the Nara said 'daughter' with a slurred speech. Just how close did the Nara family get with Kagome? And how deep was the wound between them? Sasuke felt a bitter taste flush mouth and knot in his gut. Would the same happen to them? Would Kagome draw them all in so close only to push away?

Thoughts wandered to _Kage._ The enigmatic ANBU Captain who had been teammates with Kagome before, something had happened and now the nameless man held such a resentment for her it was near fanatical. But it was never directed towards her, no, Kage never would harm Kagome, _his prior ward._

But he would target _him_ personally. Sasuke remembered rigged training scenarios, the backfired jutsu, the dark alleyway and the unseen attacker. His own weakness towards Genjutsu had been exploited more than once by Kage's subordinates and it was only a matter of time before the Shadow came after him personally.

And all because he had stepped in on Kagome's behalf back in Kawa when they were surrounded by plague and death. Kagome had been disoriented and found Kage sitting placidly amongst the chaos. Kage's ethics rattled her and Sasuke had defended her, as it was his place to.

A place surely Kage had once held and cherished. A place he might want back and by any means necessary.

The truth remained however, Kage and the Nara had once been at Kagome's side and within a moment's time were tossed to the wind.

Sasuke now wondered for whose benefit this was done for and how long until he, Itachi, Naruto, Sakura and Shisui were done away with all the same?

Either way, Sasuke repressed his wavering trust in Kagome's loyalty and moved on. There problems for today and tomorrow and this day's were all the more pertinent.

He needed to monitor Kagome's contact with Naruto, Kyuubi specifically, more carefully. He needed to have some semblance of control if not for his own sake or Kagome's then for Itachi's or Naruto's; for they were just as emotionally invested as the rest.

"That is not the case here, Shikaku-san. I am here to ask you personally for Kagome's hand." It was a tradition, right? And last Sasuke checked Shikaku was the closest thing Kagome had to a father.

The monumental significance of the Uchiha's words rang deaf upon the Nara's ears.

"I see." Shikaku poured himself another lambent pool of sake and stared into the clear ripples. "You have your own personal reasons, I suspect."

The slightest of nods and Sasuke's dark gaze seemed to lighten. "As of late, Kagome's dormant power has been hastening in its awakening."

An audible_ tap_ and Shikaku's empty saucer collided with the bar. "Don't tell me things I already know or do not need to." There was a supreme bitterness in his words.

Sasuke's eyes dipped to the wooden countertop, and delved into the dark swirling wood-knots. His thoughts drifted to the small child he had seen traipsing about the countryside with, barking orders to him and on occasion flashing him a brief smile. They had been comrades for a brief time and then it all changed when they had fought on equal terms. Sasuke had felt neither humbled or glorified, he was simply Uchiha Sasuke to her, no change of character or skill needed. Kagome was his ultimate equal and he intended to keep it that way.

Meaning as he grew in power, he would ensure she did as well.

"I will try to refrain," Sasuke muttered and it was the closest thing he would ever get to an apology. He knew Shikaku did not relish in Kagome's activities and did not wish to be burdened further. Nara Shikaku had yet to wash his hands completely of his adoptive daughter but he was getting close to. "Simply know the Kyuubi's interest in her has spurred action and the consequences… are dire."

"And the clans?" Shikaku asked, scars twisting in a grimace. "You know as well as I do that with each day she becomes stronger she becomes a more tempting prize."

"I do not disagree," Sasuke commented objectively. "My clan and the Hyuuga are closing in, if not on her then for Captainship for either myself or Hyuuga Neji."

The Nara patriarch's eyes were distant, like an old lion surveying the wilds, he saw past what others did. His next words were quiet ones. "Yet knowing all this, you still have the gall to ask for her hand? She is too young and impressionable as it is—"

"If you were to allow such a thing I would give you _my word_ she would never be exploited." Sasuke cut him off. "Ever."

Shikaku shook his head and a bitter chortle erupted from his scarred lips. He reached for the decanter with an unsteady grope—

Sasuke smacked it away. "Look at me when I speak to you Nara Shikaku."

Begrudgingly, he did and what he saw was sobering.

Sasuke's eyes were trembling and within those dark depths of apathy, pride and jealousy lay sincerity.

And where sincerity reigned so did loyalty.

_I would never abandon her. _

Shikaku sat back and pushed away his alcohol. "Give me one good reason."

Because intentions were nice but facts and a plan of action helped just as well.

Sasuke's fingers threaded under his chin, once again the brooding strategist. He resembled his brother in his calculated words. "I have influence. My clan's standing alone gives me that. I can keep the Uchiha and Hyuuga at bay and secure a relative peace for Kagome if she were to be betrothed to me. Just as well, the council would feel satisfied that her… situation is being dealt with by a third party. "

"You mean the wolves would not be at her back if you keep up the _pretense_ of control," Shikaku mused. "Clever, however I'm afraid I do not see _you _ever having such power over her, boy. And who's to say she will not spiral out of control further once she learns of this? What girl wants to be told who she will marry?"

"I never proposed marriage," Sasuke informed him diplomatically. "This is simply a way of biding time. The betrothal will relieve pressure, allow proper surveillance and a means to work on resealing Kagome's powers, unhindered by _other influences_."

Shikaku pondered this for a moment's time. "It will be done then. I will send the missive to your father tomorrow morning."

Sasuke preferred tonight, Kagome and the rest would surely have drifted into the village with late autumn's frost by tomorrow. Either way, it was acceptable and the Uchiha extracted himself from the bar with a few crumpled ryo in his palm's wake. He overpaid, both for the bartender's tip and Shikaku's inevitable and staggering tab.

Sasuke was not three footsteps away when Shikaku's gruff voice racked his attention.

"You're positive you can rein in your father and keep the Hyuuga at bay, along with the council?" Shikaku questioned absently but his words rang with a lingering _sincerity._

"As her betrothed I would have all the authority to do so," Sasuke said with steeled resolve, crossed his sleeved arms and turned to go once more—

"Seems like a lot of trouble for one girl, one girl who may never reciprocate the favor…" Shikaku remarked bitterly and his craned back was to Sasuke. "I know what she's like, she will take you all for what your worth and then cast you aside no matter the sacrifices you made for her…" He drowned his words with another cupful of sake.

Sasuke did not look back but his words rang clear. "I care for her—"

_More than you ever did. _

"—unconditionally," Sasuke finished.

And he disappeared into the haze of smoke and the darkness of yet another cold night.

…

They drifted into Konoha like a handful of windblown autumn leaves. Muddied and trampled, Kagome led on the silent procession into the village and in unison the cowls slipped, the masks lifted up and their chakra flushed the area.

One could smell blood on skin for at least a week straight with a good nose and Kagome always had one. She felt sick. She felt thin, beaten down to the very bone and tired beyond belief. They trudged through the Konoha Gates with muddy boots, passports and clearance from their last checkpoint.

"Ohayo Kagome-sempai," Kamizuki Izumo greeted with a fervent wave from his rickety post to the small crowd of shinobi that flittered into sunlight. "Yamato-taichou—Anko-san! _You're back!"_

Hagane Kotetsu quirked his head. "Genma? Raido? _–the hell_ get over here!" he whooped.

Genma and Raido poked their heads out and immediately darted over to their Chuunin mates. The banter began subsequently and drinking plans were made almost immediately.

Kagome nodded her head over to Neji. He wordlessly disappeared into a flicker of shadow to deliver their mission reports to Tsunade. Anko immediately took charge and marched a near catatonic Naruto to the hospital but not without a thankful glance from Kagome.

"No problem, kid," Anko began as she pushed Naruto forward with a forceful nudge. "I owe you one and then some."

Kagome watched Naruto begrudging steps with a smirk and Anko's incessant rubbing at her neck. The skin was reddened and a bit chafed but ultimately _unmarked._

She whirled on her heel and with Yamato saying, "here goes nothing," they walked on and the subordinates shushed as their superiors approached.

"It says here Uchiha Sasuke checked in two days ago," Kotetsu remarked as his bandaged nose dove into the contents of the scroll that listed every coming and going of every shinobi within the last month. His spiky hair bobbed and sprayed over the rim of the parchment as he checked and rechecked. "He broke rank," the Chuunin finally surmised at Kagome's silence.

"Please make a note that it has been dealt with." She would not have Sasuke put on probation for something… _so stupid._

A flurry of ink and it was done. "Of course, Kagome-sempai."

"Thank you," she said and her bow fell much lower than intended.

Yamato tilted his head at the travel worn girl and looped an arm around hers. "Here, I can take you to the hospital."

Kagome looked up and found Yamato's face haunting. The sky was a rich ochre and was eerily lit for a sunrise. "I just want to go home," Kagome breathed and felt even more heavy knowing not even she knew where that was.

Yamato sighed and reluctantly said, "You know you cannot. You are due at the Hospital." From there Kagome would be detained until further notice. He just couldn't let her roam about the village chockfull of Kyuubi's chakra. "Come, Tsunade-sama will want to do the energy analysis soon."

Kagome wanted to protest, every fiber of her brain screamed for her to but her body did not adhere to commands and instead walked numbly with Yamato as her gentle escort.

Kagome hated to admit it but she liked Yamato. He was genial, self-conscious and _very_ easy to read.

Qualities that her recent company did not have…

Konoha blossomed like Morning Glory with the dawn, its color came from its people and petals from their flurry of activities. Stalls propped open and goods were splayed. Fall meant harvest was coming to an end and the imported fruits from Mizu were always exotic and colorful from below the equator. Kagome let her eyes drift to civilian women hanging dried herbs, a tight knot of workmen sipping coffee with a cigarette, a throng of children scurrying with mouthfuls of mango…

She blinked hurriedly. Since when did she become so attached to this village?

She found herself admiring the quaint neighborhoods, stacked onto one another in a messy fashion and crawling with foliage. She found herself skimming her fingertips on rusty railings, dragging her boots on the muddy streets, inhaling the familiar downtown scent of rotted fruit, tobacco and mold. It was a familiar smell, one that she relished now.

Downtown trickled into the marketplace, this gave a brief reprieve to the upper scale neighborhoods with their townhouses and cafes and then onto the secluded Clan districts until Konoha General loomed overhead like a bloated elephant.

Kagome squinted into the sunlight. It really was quite a hideous building.

Before she could think to dart in the other direction Yamato nudged her forward. Kagome whipped around with a withering glance but proceeded into courtyard.

Trees were shedding their fiery plume as their bark darkened but it was one old maple in particular that drew the prodigy's eye. Kagome stopped dead in her tracks and stood in the tree's bloodied shadow.

Yamato looked at her quizzically. "Everything alright?"

Kagome tilted her chin to the tree and almost as if on command a willowy figure materialized amongst the boughs. "Waiting for someone?" she called to the crouched ANBU high above them.

The mask nin jumped down in a silent, lithe movement and knelt before the prodigy.

"Uzuki Yuugao," Kagome greeted with immediate recognition of the violet tresses.

Yuugao pushed back her porcelain bear mask and immediately locked gazes with the younger kunoichi. "I have news from Itachi-taichou, as he is regrettably indisposed at the moment and could not greet you upon your return."

"And where is Itachi?"

"Emergency clan meeting… that he_ himself _called for."

Immediately tension pitted in her gut. "It must be serious. Tell me, then."

Yamato could feel the tremor in Kagome's energies. The emotional turmoil in her had been muted by exhaustion but now with the news of Itachi being deep within the wolves' den…

It might prove to be too much for her and that fragile façade might shatter.

A nervous laugh bubbled from Yamato's throat as he approached the two kunoichi. "Maybe this should wait so that we can get Kagome-san settled in, ne Yuugao-san?"

Hint: _Demonic chakra is like a fuse, please do not light it!_

Because then it would make Yamato's job that much _harder._

"Gomen ne, Tenzo. But it cannot wait," Yuugao's voice was a sultry velvet but there was steel beneath. "Kagome-taichou, I must inform you…"

Kagome looked up to the kunoichi's sharp grey eyes and in them she saw something horrible…

_Pity. _

"That you are now betrothed to Uchiha Sasuke."

…

Shisui read it once, twice, thrice. The words did not change, the script remained and the meaning did not falter. "I can't believe this…" He threw a hopeless glance to the ceiling. His parent's home had gone a bit decrepit over the years and now he could spot a water stain blooming across the plaster.

"Believe it," Taji bit out, framed within a windowsill. The pale sky was her backdrop as it were another drizzly autumn day. Shadows crept into the room and beneath the kunoichi's eyes. "Taichou already summoned a council with your clan's elders. I don't think Sasuke was invited…"

"He's going to get it annulled that's what gonna happen. And then he's gonna beat the shit out of Gaki." Shisui crumpled the paper and let the missive fall to his boots. With a heavy breath Shisui ran a hand over his scalp, through his spiked hair and down his grizzled face. He really needed to shave. He stomped the crumpled paper for good measure. "I don't think the brat understands what else this might spur…"

"Like?" Taji clicked her tongue and toyed with the wolverine mask in her lap.

"Yui," Shisui said with sigh. "She is going to want to proceed now with her own betrothal with Itachi. And Chibi's age isn't helping matters at all either because Yui and Itachi are actually at a prime age to get married and have been betrothed to one another for the majority of their lives. There's nothing Itachi can stall with now…"

Taji slipped from the window and took up pacing over the paneled floorboards leaving wet footprints. "Maybe Taichou and Sasuke can switch?"

_Switch?_ Shisui pondered this. For Itachi to take Kagome as his bride would not only be a long process and a massive break in tradition but would possibly cause enough uproar to excommunicate Itachi and all of his progeny from the clan. In fact, Yui was the only reason he held such a strong position as heir and if he were to dilute his bloodline with someone outside the clan…

He would not only condemn Sasuke to marrying someone he did not love but also force upon him all of the crushing responsibilities as well.

And Uchiha Itachi simply could not do that to his precious little brother.

Not to mention this would almost guarantee Kagome and their children would be ostracized within their village and when ninja were concerned to have enemies at home was as certain as a death sentence.

"No, Itachi would never agree to that," Shisui said finally. "He's not one to be so selfish for momentary satisfaction."

"Of course," Taji near wilted, knowing she had overstepped her bounds. "Yuugao should have told her by now."

"And Arata should have been back by now," Shisui snapped impatiently only to throw his lumbering frame onto his futon. It squeaked as if it might give way but the bed remained.

As if on cue the redheaded sprite flickered into the dark room. "It's getting bad." He pushed back his tiger mask and breathed out as if he had just escaped a pack of wolves. "Taichou just threatened stepping down as heir."

"No way." Shisui paled.

Arata raised a brow. _"Way."_

Taji looked a bit miffed and wrinkled her nose at her younger teammate. "You sure they didn't catch you?"

Arata blinked his large russet eyes and immediately bristled. "Of course not, Taichou told me to listen in and report back to Shisui-taichou when I felt it was necessary." And from the frantic look in the ANBU's eyes it was definitely necessary that Shisui step in and give Itachi back up.

"I don't know… meetings with the clan elders are pretty big deals. Like they're archived and stuff, if I were to barge in… my mom would never forgive me."

"Your mother is dead," Arata said dryly.

"Oh, _thank you_, I definitely forgot about _that_. I meant in the afterlife… _prick._ "

Taji gulped and stepped in between the two. Shisui outmatched Arata in more ways than just size. "I think what Shisui-taichou is trying to say is that this is a more serious affair and rash action would be regrettable."

"I might do a lot of stuff but breaking into a ceremonial meeting like this… just to be recorded as the biggest jerk in our clan's history—yeah, not for me."

Arata eyes snapped up and near shrunk the burly Uchiha. "But Taichou needs you. _Now_."

"_Ugh,_ fine."

Shisui was just about to step into a Shunshin no Jutsu as casually as one would walk out their front door when—

A shadow materialized within the room.

"Yuugao, long time no see," Shisui leered at the ethereal beauty.

She remained masked and along the farthest wall. She did not intend on staying long. "I must inform Taichou but considering you three can actually do something about it I came here first," she spoke in quick, bladed words and her eyes were just as sharp.

Taji twirled her cropped umber bangs idly. "Spit it out, then."

Her footsteps were silent as she stepped into the pale shaft of sunlight. "Sai had been dispatched to monitor the Kyuubi's vessel but was chased off by Tsunade-sama's own personal guard. I also witnessed Tenzo escorting Higurashi-taichou to the hospital personally. "

"Oh shit," Shisui's mouth fell open. "That means the Hokage is taking charge of things."

"They're starting _now_?" Arata demanded and was already crouched on the windowsill, masked and ready to pounce. "Why would they do it so soon? What spurred this?"

A delicate uplift of shoulders and Yuugao shrugged. Her violet hair spilled past in damp dark strands. "I sensed a large amount of Kyuubi's chakra within her… but could not pinpoint it within her signature. I believe something happened between the Kyuubi and Kagome. And the Hokage is being pressured by the Council to act before the situation gets out of hand."

"Shit, there's no way to stall it." Shisui grit his teeth and already his chakra buzzed with the impending influx of a Shunshin. "I'll get Itachi. The rest of you try to do _something _to stall them. And if you can _get Sakura_, she can keep both Chibi and Whiskers relatively calm."

And with that Shisui stepped into shadow and disappeared into darkness.

"I don't get it," Taji whined as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Her honey-brown eyes darted about like that of a hawk.

Arata rolled his eyes but he too was at a loss and stared stubbornly at the paneled floors. "Who cares if they do an energy analysis alongside the Jinchuuriki? It's just an observation."

"Yeah, no harm in that," Taji chirped at Yuugao with a quirked head.

Yuugao shook her head. "There's no telling how either will react. That is why so many security measures are being taken." She remembered feeling Sai's signature be chased off as a full platoon put a lockdown for a perimeter as Tsunade marched into the Hospital with a fury in her amber eyes. An entire wing had been dedicated to the procedure and Yamato had spent the past hour laying the groundwork for an emergency sealing. "Jiraiya-sama had been there as well. This is serious, you two."

"What do they hope to gain from Higurashi-taichou once this is done, then?" Arata asked, mystified and at a loss on how to challenge such superior manpower.

"What Itachi-taichou fears most—_her memories_."

Then, unbeknownst to her Taji's intuition spoke the truth. "Who's to say she doesn't remember something, already?"

Oh, how little did they know that the power deep within Kagome was already starting to awaken.

…

Kagome stood in a pale lobe of light.

Darkness surrounded her, save for the shifting movements of Tsunade's ANBU guard and the footfalls of the less stealthy medic-nin. Murmurs trickled to her ears but they remained incomprehensible. She did not listen. She did not want to.

An hour passed, maybe two. She grew anxious and cold. Goosebumps washed over her skin. They had stripped her down to the bare essentials: chest bindings and combat shorts. Yet, even with that shred of modesty still intact, Kagome still felt naked – _exposed._ She knew the ANBU watched her every movement; heard her every breath. They regarded her like a beast about to snap.

With Kyuubi's chakra still in her, she was no less than a demon in their eyes.

Her flesh felt paper thin, translucent almost; as if there was an uncontainable fire raging inside of her.

The Medic-nin were timid as mice, with beady eyes scouring every inch of her and _studying_ her. They stared at her like she was a freak, an experiment to be bled dry for all she was worth.

Kagome simply steeled her expression and she resembled a porcelain doll; cold in countenance even with a cherub face and blue eyes swirling with an impending tempest's shadow.

Then, Tsunade entered fletched by Yamato and Hyuuga Hiashi with echoing footsteps.

The Godaime entered the limelight and her olive robes paled to a sickly green and her pallor turned wan. Her lips were downturned and a waxy red. "Kagome, I assume you know what is about to take place."

Kagome nodded sharply. "Of course. Chakra and energy analysis." Her eyes flicked to the two men behind her Hokage and her eyes were sharp, dangerous things. "And I assume you know how unwise it is to do so with such… unstable circumstances." A pause and Kagome's gaze never broke from Tsunade's. "You have no idea how the Kyuubi will react to such… an intrusion," Kagome hissed. "No one is going to agree to this."

Tsunade frowned further. "We have already experienced… a few protests."

Kagome flinched. She had already felt Itachi's platoon's chakra signatures bounce off the barrier surrounding the Hospital wing like flies to a hot lamp. Then Sakura's protests could be heard down the halls along with Naruto's yelling when the ANBU dragged the screeching kunoichi away. What unsettled Kagome the most however was the lack of Itachi's own interference. His signature was always suppressed and near untraceable, but his presence, his aura, was always traceable to her.

Now, with the barrier erected around her and Naruto sealing chamber, she could not sense him at all and his lack of appearance was unsettling.

_Itachi would never let this happen to me,_ she swore to herself.

"Where is he?" Kagome muttered.

Tsunade did not even have to ask who it was Kagome was referring to. The look in the young ANBU's eyes was enough to silence doubts. "Preoccupied. Your _teammate_ has made quite a mess of things and Itachi is trying to clean it up."

Kagome bristled. "Please leave Sasuke out of this. He does not know what he is doing."

"Then let's discuss it no further." The Godaime nodded, almost reverently and snapped her fingers.

Within that same breath, a trivet of ANBU encircled Kagome and Yamato began a long, intricate string of hand signs. Hyuuga Hiashi drifted over the concrete floor like a ghost and activated his Kekkei Genkai. By the time the veins of his Byakugan had threaded through his temples and the ANBU had steadied themselves into formation, Yamato had completed his jutsu. The kanji rings etched into the concrete had begun to glow a crisp icy blue beneath Kagome's toes.

A heavy blanket of silence settled over the area and Kagome turned knowingly behind her.

"Naruto," she whispered to the unconscious Jinchuuriki laid at her feet by the ANBU.

Her heart nearly broke at the reddened hand marks gracing his skin. Bruises would form but his pride would never quite forget how he was belittled in such a way.

Kagome fell to her knees beside the Jinchuuriki. Her fingertips traced the pitted knots of scar tissue along his ribs, the whisker marks along his cheeks, his hairline where saffron hair met honeyed skin…

"Begin," Tsunade commanded and Kagome felt so helpless.

Yamato paused for a moment's breath before initiating the jutsu but once he did, the runes on the ground sparked and blazed blue in pure undiluted chakra.

The ANBU stood watch, hands on their katana and tanto. Hiashi observed every particle of energy flittering through the air and between organisms. Tsunade remained silent and vigilant.

The inlayed network of chakra rose up and encompassed Kagome and Naruto in a dome of translucent blue energy. It prodded and poked at the ANBU child and Jinchuuriki until each signature was fully _bared _for the world to see.

Then just as Yamato had delved past the final layers of Naruto's own signature and into Kyuubi's—

"Hokage-sama something is wr—" Hiashi began.

Naruto's body convulsed. His eyes snapped open red as magma and with a fanged mouth _**roared.**_

The dome of blue chakra bled crimson in an instant and then poured out from the Jinchuuriki sweeping everyone away in a giant wave of frothing red chakra.

Kagome lurched feeling such impurity invade her system_ again_ but this time _tenfold._

She tried to scream but it was like drowning but instead of water, it felt like liquid fire.

And that's when everything went black.

…

Kagome awoke in lukewarm water with torchlight reflecting in its ripples. With slow, pained movements she arose and the shush water sloshed around her. She stood and her vision cleared.

She was knee deep in a flooded antechamber and before an immense cage.

Her Jinchuuriki was a scant three meters away, staring silently into the bar's depths.

"Naruto," she whispered greedily and rushed over to him. Her movements were uncoordinated and she found herself having trouble focusing. "Naruto…!" she called, feeling so very weak.

Naruto turned, his expression stone-like and eyes steely. "Kagome?" he murmured hoarsely as he caught her by her wrists. "What are you doing here?"

"Here…?" She glanced up and found no ceiling but just an endless void. "What is this place?"

The shadows over Naruto's deepened. "This is the darkest place inside of me, Kagome-chan. This is where the Kyuubi resides."

"The seal," she said and there was no question in her voice. "I see."

"How did you get here?" he asked her urgently and his grip on her wrists tightened.

Kagome shook her head. "I do not… know. Your chakra… The Kyuubi's chakra," she corrected. "It pulled me in and… I let it."

"Because you were desperate to remember something more," Naruto growled. "You can't trust the Kyuubi, Kagome. It's a demon. Just because it helps you one time doesn't mean it will continue to do so. That's how it gets you. One time is all it needs to lend you its power and then you become dependent on it!"

Kagome wilted at Naruto's yells. "How would you know?" she snapped. "You don't what its like to know nothing, absolutely nothing about yourself! The Kyuubi knows not just something Naruto, it knows everything!"

"_How would I know?"_ Naruto seethed; the cords in his neck taut and his eyes were dark tumultuous oceans. "Because that's what happened to me, Kagome. Time and time again, the Kyuubi would lend me its power until I was addicted and worthless on my own. I was under its influence and hurt a lot of people because of it…"

Kagome looked away resembling a stubborn child. "I'm desperate…"

"That's no excuse, Kagome." Naruto dropped her and she crumpled into the waters. He looked into the darkness of the cage and glared murderously. "Look at what you are trying gain knowledge from. Look at the hideous_ demon_ you are trying to trust."

Kagome turned her head slowly. "Demon?"

Naruto growled and stared at the grinning Kyuubi with a murderous intent. "Don't you see it? This is nothing but a monster fox with nine tails, teeth, claws and bloodlust. "

Kagome blinked innocently. "But I don't see a demon, Naruto."

Naruto stilled, feeling a sudden rush of cold through his veins at the Kyuubi's all knowing smile.

"I see a boy."

* * *

**Author's Note:** This is all I have. I give it all. I gave it my all. Good bye. ~KarasuKimi


	32. The World Within Myself

**ATTENTION:** BEFORE YOU READ The IYverse and Narutoverse are INTERWOVEN in this story. NOTHING IS CANON EXCEPT THE CHARACTERS. So NO, Tokyo, Feudal Japan etc DO NOT exist in this story which means Kagome never fell down a well, the jewel was never broken and Naraku was never defeated. Take it as you will. This story has it owns complete, ORIGINAL history involving characters from BOTH fandoms. **Questions will be answered on my profile.** …ALSO, hi. I missed this and all of YOU. Enjoy!.~KK

* * *

**~Chapter Thirty One~**

_The World Inside Myself_

* * *

Unlimited girl, unlimited sigh  
Elsewhere  
Indefinitely  
Far away  
Magnifies and deepens  
Ready to sing  
My sixth sense peacefully placed on my breath  
And listening  
Keeps me from my hurt _  
_My ears know that my eyes are closed_  
_Perish thoughs like contraband  
I train myself in martial arts  
As advertised  
I reinforce my softened parts  
As advertised  
See through me little glazed lane  
A world in myself  
Ready to sing

_—Group Four_

* * *

_I do not see a demon. I see a boy._

…

He was beautiful.

Yet, there was a pain resonating deep within him; etched into his flesh and strung taut in tendon cords and atrophied muscle.

He resembled a prisoner, emaciated and wan in pallor. He sat reclined with a single long arm draped over his propped knee and his face tilted, _just so_. He was grinning _**madly**_, ear to ear and his demeanor was lunatic.

"_**Ah, pup,"**_ Kyuubi purred with a resonating voice and motioned her forward with a flick of a clawed hand.

Kagome was yanked into the cage by some unknown force and Naruto's screams of protest were silenced by darkness.

Red eyes pierced the thick velvet curtain before fading to a deep sea green. Kyuubi's face was faintly illuminated by a crescent of torchlight that caught sharp, thin cheekbones. Lanced across each were trivets of markings, resembling whiskers but more jagged than Naruto's own marks.

Kyuubi's eyes blinked languidly. "Hm, even your very presence silences the beast within me."

"Your voice," Kagome whispered. "It's… _changed."_ She was so used to the malevolent baritone with a sickly chuckle that made her skin crawl. Now his voice was calm, smooth and thin. "And your eyes." They no longer resembled fire or fresh blood but calm, ancient waters. "I knew it," she said triumphantly. "I knew you had some_ humanity_ in you."

A light chuckle and it was a rich, bell-like sound. "Humanity?" Kyuubi scoffed. "I am still very much a demon, pup. One who has lost the sense of self from _years_ of wandering, enslavement and captivity." He reclined back and his haori glinted in the sparse light. It was probably once a velvety emerald that was intricately embellished but now it was faded with threadbare silk and frayed embroidery. "I have long since lost the separation between my mind and my beast. We are one now and are both facing the consequences."

Kagome's brow wrinkled with thought. "You have two minds?"

The Kyuubi's lips quirked. "Not quite. Every demon has two… _aspects _of itself. Much like your human conscious and subconscious mind except that the beast is on equal par with the mind and each is just as aware of the other. You cannot repress your beast just as you cannot eliminate the mind and we experience everything simultaneously. As for the one who chooses the actions… well, that has always been the ultimate power struggle."

The ANBU child took a hesitant step forward with her eyes narrowed in on the demon and the dark waters sloshing at her knees. A bloody red spill of hair fell past his shoulders and down his back; uncut and unbound it swirled with the tepid waters. "And my being here… gave you, _the mind_, a foothold to gain control once again."

The Kyuubi nodded and Kagome's caught the glint of bobbing copper-red bangs. "You are a miko, pup. You are the _only_ miko in history who has ever been able to grant youkai with the ability to repress the beast altogether or eliminate one's mind."

"But you just said—"

"That it was impossible?" The Kyuubi grinned maniacally once more and a single eye bulged to a ruby orb. _**"Oh but it is, pup. Your very existence is an impossibility. Your powers are god sent and are limitless."**_

Again that wicked trill of the Kyuubi she was familiar with surfaced. Kagome closed her eyes and willed that malevolent presence far, far away and for the calm, serene boy to reappear.

When she opened her eyes, the boy was panting and clutching his skull with claws digging into the flesh just above his right eye. "Arigatou gozaimasu…" he breathed.

"The Kyuubi, the beast… wanted me to come here, though," Kagome found herself reaching out towards the boy. He looked so human yet so otherworldly as well. His demeanor was ethereal and his movements had a grace and silence to them that could have only been achieved through a millennia or _more _of life. "Why would it do that if I was only meant to suppress him?"

The demon glanced up and with a sobered voice said, "Because you can eliminate the mind just as well. You can destroy _me_ with the slightest of wills."

"But I would never do that," Kagome hissed and fell to her knees beside him. Water splashed and a rivulet landed onto his cheek resembling a single, lambent tear. "I would never want… the beast that is Kyuubi to surface and take hold of you – you are _good_. He is evil."

"It is not as simple as that pup. And yet, compared to the Kyuubi a trickster such as myself may appear… _good_," he smirked, amused with his words but there was an bitterness to him. "But you have a taint in you and it is what the Kyuubi beast preys upon. It is as much a foothold for his evil influence to take root as it is for your presence in Naruto's Seal to allow me to surface."

"A taint?" Kagome's hand darted to her chest. That hollow feeling she had all her life, that incessant warning that she would drown if she let it take hold and the traitorous self-destructive acts she had done to herself. It all made sense. "Tell me more," she ventured bravely. "How can I stop _this_?"

_How can stop this taint from eating me alive? _Her eyes screamed.

A long pause, the slosh of water and the dance of torchlight flittering about the boy's features filled the silence. "You truly remember nothing?" The fox-boy remained doubtful, skeptical of her amnesia as he was so used to trickery and deceit after so many years…

"The Kyuubi, _your beast_, claimed he knew… that he knew_ everything_ about me. Please, you share experiences as if you are one, the same mind no matter how many personalities it holds must have access to the same memories… you must _know _as well!"

Emerald eyes, impossibly dark and swirling with years of knowledge flicked over to her small form. They leveled her and took in her short, cropped hair, her ashen skin and her haunted gaze. So foreign, after years of being raised with _humans_ and subjected to their corrupt ways she seemed completely different. He did not want to trust her. The fox-boy narrowed his sharp eyes and found that her unwavering gaze was still the same. His heart softened and an ache pooled in his chest. How he so missed this child… "I do not hesitate to punish or tease you, pup. My beast told the truth but used it to lure you here." The Kyuubi wanted full control of their powers, so long as he, The Mind, existed, Kyuubi, The Beast, would always want to be rid of him, _The Chains_.

And this child before them had the power to destroy them both, if she so pleased…

'_**But she cannot,'**_ Kyuubi snickered in the recesses of their shared conscious_**. 'Not yet, anyhow. Her memories and powers are interwoven. Tell her a story, Trickster and let us see who she chooses…'**_

'_Very well,' _The Trickster conceded. "The Kyuubi manipulated our meeting." It was such dangerous ground to tread.

"I know this," she said as she gripped the demon's shoulder. It trembled under Kagome's grip. "Go on."

_He is very weak,_ Kagome observed.

The Trickster hung his head low and Kagome watched as her touch elicited the fiery tinge to fade from his hair to a coppery shade instead. The late summer fire shifted to a calm autumn afternoon. The Trickster's eyes darted away in conflict. He was the Trickster, not the Beast, and since when did he play by the rules of a wild, classless demon anyway? "I cannot," he sighed. "It is for your own wellbeing."

He shrugged off her soothing touch and Kagome _snapped._ "Look at me."

He did without hesitation and the motion was automatic to her command. They locked gazes. Swirling emerald oceans met with stormy grey-blue skies.

Kagome _smacked_ him. And the echoes of the impact and Kyuubi's snickers reverberated throughout the dark corridors of their prison.

The demon gingerly probed his lower lip and looked back at the small miko with wide eyes.

He resembled a child looking at his mother with a look of horror.

The jagged markings on his face faded completely. "I… sometimes forget that you are not the same as your incarnation."

"Tell me why…" Kagome seethed and her ribs contracted and collapsed in a frantic rhythm. "Tell me why I can't know a single _FUCKING _thing about myself?"

"_Because you are being watched!"_ the demon hissed in the sharpest of whispers and the sea green waves in his eyes tossed restlessly. "And as soon as you regain your memories… you regain your powers as well. And there are others… who seek to harness what is dormant within you."

"…Madara," Kagome breathed out. "He _is_ alive, then."

The demon nodded and viridian eyes dipped down to the dark waters reflecting a starless night, a full moon, a demon on the horizon and the twinkle of city lights beckoning destruction. He remembered the last moments of his freedom. He remembered uncontrollable rage and how he could not tell who was the Beast and who was the Mind.

In those few moments that he lost control, _hundreds_ died.

"It is because of him and my own weakness that the Village Hidden Amongst the Leaves was nearly razed to the ground… He is watching your every move. He has eyes in this village, amongst your leaders, comrades and friends. And he knows your powers are awakening." The demon growled and his nostrils flared. "I can _**smell **_your power just as he can _**see**_ it."

A bitter taste flushed in her mouth. Kagome swallowed _hard_. "I can hide it. I can hide the fact that my powers are active."

A light, rich chortle trickled from the demon's lips. "Perhaps… but tell me, will you hesitate in healing a dying comrade? Will you stop on the battlefield if a demon _hunting you_ crests over the horizon? Will you deny the affections of a lover?"

A lump formed in her throat. "I… I do not understand," her voice warbled.

"I am saying miko that your power has begun its unstoppable awakening and every decision you make forges your future. You have an eternal battle of good and evil waging inside of you. Much like the Mind and the Beast of a demon, instead yours affects everything around you. If you choose to heal when your powers are this premature and to fly as a fledgling then you will _fall._ If you continue to recklessly allow your powers to fluctuate without control then you will draw in demons like wolves to prey or sharks to blood. If you choose to love selfishly as you have been doing then know your purity withers."

"How was I supposed to know?" Kagome demanded, her voice dark and bitter. "I healed my friends because they are dearest to me. I do not know how to begin to even control these powers. And my 'loving selfishly' is the closest thing I have ever come to happiness!"

"Do you know…" the demon began. "What it means to be a pure miko, pup?"

Kagome settled into a nasty fit of silence and huffed with crossed arms feeling the inevitable onslaught of a lecture.

"It means discipline. You cannot save everyone. You must learn that your powers are too premature to utilize for healing. The healing you _believe_ you are doing is not by your own accord but by your own soul's efforts to keep you alive."

"My soul?" Kagome echoed feeling wisps of conversation drift back to her and memories flood back as real as if they were happening once more.

_"It's nobody's business but ours."_

_Shisui's face went stiff. "What? You think you can have your little harem and everyone is going to be okay with it? What about when you want to have kids? Junior's gonna wonder why he has three daddies, if not more at the rate things are going now… " Shisui grumbled. "It's not natural."_

_Glass shattered in Kagome's hand and fell to the floor with bloody clinks._

_Shisui didn't flinch or swarm over her like the so many overprotective people in her life._

_"You think I don't know that…" She just kept on a steady gaze before deftly plucking out the little shard out of her palm and letting them fall into the sink, one by one. "There's no future in this, there's never been a future for any of us."_

_"What the hell are you talking about?" Shisui snapped._

_Kagome folded her palm, split flesh and blood trickled down her wrist. She was silent when she reopened it, like a blooming flower, the skin was smooth and bloodless. "This is not natural and it comes with a cost."_

_Shisui felt his vision blur. "What cost?"_

_Kagome's head bowed. "There's something inside of me, like how Jinchuuriki heal fast but the demon eats away at the mind? I have a power, Shisui. You know this. You've seen it and its price…" she swallowed thickly._

_Your heart stopped__, Neji had said to her. __Not only did your heart cease for a moment, Kagome-sama, but your signature vanished. The air, the natural energies shifted, stilled… for but a moment._

_Something unnatural had awakened, once dormant in her bones it was now crying out and scraping her dry._

_I think I'm dying__, she had said back._

_She would soon be a hapless shell with a skeleton brittle and hollow like a bird's._

_And, in a way, she was._

_Except, it wasn't marrow and it went deeper than her bones._

_"Its price is my soul."_

"My soul is struggling to keep me alive?" Kagome questioned but it was a statement.

"Yes," the demon admitted solemnly. "You have but a _fraction_ of your true power at your fingertips for the moment. When you heal, you nearly use _**all**_of it and this overwhelms your system. And when a miko's energies are gone, when she recklessly drains herself _**so low**_… she dies."

"But my soul…" Kagome trembled and slunk back to sit on her heels. She felt dizzy and her heart raced. _"What happens to my soul?"_ she demanded.

"It… sacrifices a portion of itself to be converted into raw energy. This energy is turned into whatever the mind wills it to be. In your case, it is transformed into pure healing energy." The demon's eyes flitted over to her and looked her up and down. She was a small, lithe prodigy and not imposing in stature in the least. With wide murky eyes she stared at him and resembled a weak, scared child.

This was not the miko he remembered but a pup taken in by the Dog General's son to be _coddled _and recklessly abandoned to be raised by _humans_.

"Describe to me what it felt like to heal Uchiha Itachi from the brink of death after that ambush all those weeks ago," The fox-boy demanded.

Kagome's eyes shut and felt a supreme heaviness drift over.

_She could feel __it__, pulsating in him, his __life…_

_And it was slipping through her fingers like water._

_She couldn't stop it, but it was ebbing away with each breath he rasped._

_He was like an emptying cup, something she couldn't grasp or stop was slipping away from him._

_So she did what her __instincts__ screamed for her to do._

_She poured herself into him, everything she could possibly give at that moment spilled forth._

_And it felt like she was drowning, and in a sense, she was._

Her eyes opened and the dark veil parted to reveal the intense, studying gaze of a demon. "It felt… It felt like I was losing a part of myself."

"You did," the demon stated deeply and his dipped to his claws folded in his lap. "And every piece you lose is another step you take closer to oblivion… you have a void inside of you, pup. One that has formed in the place of your soul and the taint is filling it up. Soon you will be nothing but a soulless shell with nothing but impurity to drive you mindless." The Trickster looked at her with despair. "That is what is happening to me…"

'_**And soon you will be gone and I will be free,'**_ Kyuubi cackled.

Kagome's entire body went numb. "That… that is what my fate is?" she choked out and groped at the painful throb of her heart thundering beneath her ribs like that of a caged, frantic hummingbird.

"No. That is a possibility if you continue on with your… reckless decisions."

"Then teach me!" she pleaded. "Teach me how to control myself. I can't make the right decisions if I do not know what the right decisions even are."

A long moment passed, thoughts danced and knitted the demon's countenance.

"I was unaware of how truly ignorant you were. I would have thought _the_ _dog_ would have left you some means of defending yourself. It seems I am left with little choice then," the demon growled, eyes glinting with firelight. "You wish for me to be blunt?" At the child's nod of approval, he began. "First, you must know the origin of the taint. I will provide you with information but not all. This Information may unlock your memories and in turn your dormant powers. You must never utter a word to anyone about your knowledge of either. I will teach you how to suppress your aura and maintain your purity until you can eliminate the taint." The demon's eyes glowed a deep emerald. "But there are two things you must know before we begin."

"And those are?" Kagome piped, anxious as a newborn foal to walk.

"Know I am the only remaining being in existence that has had contact with your incarnation."

'_**We are very, very old Trickster,'**_ Kyuubi whispered. _**'And time makes the mind grow weak…'**_

Kagome's head buzzed and she felt an sudden onslaught of vertigo. "And the other?"

The demon paused and mused over his next words. Surely what he was about to say would rouse her soul.

_I do not know what to say or how to start,_ the fox-boy wrestled internally. There was so much to tell…

'_**Start with your name, Trickster. Only then will she begin to remember and only then will reawaken her powers…'**_

So he began "You once called me Shippou."

And Kagome began to remember a past life. She was sitting across before her son.

…

_And the Kitsune bespoke a tale, but not all; if only for the Miko's sake. _

…

_Why do you believe there is an ocean inside of your mindset? _The Trickster queried.

The Child thought back to her previous experiences -times when she wandered her subconscious and treaded over glassy planes. _I do not know. It lays atop of my past, my memories…_

_Your power as well is at the bottom, pup. The ocean is the form the seal on your powers has taken. _

_Then how do I undo this seal?_

_You cannot, not yet. But know the ocean is symbolic for something much more literal. _

_Literal? _

_Yes, your homeland in this life is that of the Dog General. The land from where you were born and the rest of my kind were banished to lays across a vast ocean, far to the west. _

_So my family…_

_Yes, but is across an unreachable distance. Few even know of the lands' existence. And for good reason, pup. It is a savage place. One where even your greatest shinobi would be vanquished by. _

_Then how did Madara find me? How did he reach me, conquer this Dog General and take me away? _

_I do not know… Nobody does._

…

_Tell me of Sesshoumaru._

_Which one? _

_He had an incarnation as well?_

_Yes, though his incarnation… was less moral than his current and all the more callous. If you can believe such a thing._

_He is still alive, then?_

_Possibly, unless he tripped off a sea cliff or came down with influenza. _

_Demons can get sick?_

_Too many questions, pup. And you're missing the point._

The Child learned that Fox and the Dog did not quite get along…

…

_And what of my family?_

_I think you know that answer, pup. _The Trickster's solemn words bespoke a massacre.

_Yes, but just how many did Madara slaughter?_

_Your brood was small to begin with but the size of your 'family' was extensive. Then again, your mother's definition of 'family' was always a bit loose._

_You're saying my mother took in strays? _The Child marveled about all the shapes and forms these beings took on.

…_more like any living creature that happened to wander past the shrine's gates. _

_We're you one of those strays?_

The Trickster seemed flustered, almost insulted but then smiled. _Hm, once upon a time, yes._

…

_And how did I come to Konoha? Did Madara simply leave me here?_

_When Madara ambushed us… Your mother, Midoriko sealed you and your powers away just before Madara could snatch you… into a timeless void known as a Meidou. It was here that you remained, for years. . . un-aged, untouched, safe. . . and completely unreachable. You remained there for a quite a time and your mother died immediately after you were sealed. The strain it took to completely seal away your power took everything she had. Without her, with you… Our lot became scattered afterwards, even Madara disappeared for a time leaving some of us alive for reasons we didn't know… Grief took its hold. Many of us, like myself, grew restless… _

The Child could now see what drove this once proud demon onto the brink of madness. _And no one could break it?_

_No, there was one. One miko left alive who could but with the hanyou's death so fresh and the wounded pride of a demon lord to contend with . . . bitterness and cowardice kept them stagnant and you remained in Meidou for years...decades… _

_For how long?_

_Decades. . . Fifty years turned and Kikyou's aging, though slower than a natural woman's, had caused a deep resentment to form. She blamed you for the loss of her mother, her power, her lover and the Dog's pride crippled him to self-loathing and inaction. Sesshoumaru did nothing to urge her for your freedom. His shame was too deep to face you…_

_Until. . . _The Child prompted. She was obviously here, in the mortal world.

_Until I could no longer take it and I heard a whisper that you were no longer sealed away but in fact held captive by humans. _

_You mean you heard of Konoha. Madara manipulated to attack them, you know. He must have planted those rumors. _The Child shivered. The old Uchiha could bend even hoards of demons to his will.

_I know now, pup. I know now._

_But why Konoha? Why here? What could he have possibly gained from rousing you?_

_There was another way to break you free out of the Meidou… Madara chose Konoha for a reason. His network is extensive but he knows Konoha like the palm of his hand. If you appeared here, then you would be under close surveillance and guaranteed sanctuary due to Konoha's generous reputation. …It was most likely a rumor planted by Madara's tongue or maybe my own restlessness or maybe my mind even then had already began to decay. All that is certain that the end result was the same. _

_Which was?_

_I broke the Meidou. I traveled over that great ocean and the long journey with nothing but my goals and thoughts to entertain me caused my hatred to grow and fester. Such a large influx of demonic energy, death and violence caused the barrier between this world and the next to thin and tear until. . ._

_Until I just randomly appeared in Nara Shikaku's backyard. _

_It took three years after my attack even then for the Meidou's seal to wear away completely. And even then… Your powers were still sealed away though the seal is decaying because I am near and my demonic energy leaks through and wears at the seal that binds your power. And Madara waits… he waits until you reveal exactly what he wants. _

_And ever since, we have been here pitted against one another with conflicting energies fighting against each other. _

_Yes, it is a waiting game now. Madara simply waits until you and I reawaken… _

Destruction was their destiny.

It was then Kagome saw the fox's cage was her own and that only _**one **_of them would gain freedom.

…

She asked of her home. Her interest burned fervently within her heart bordering desperation.

Then the kitsune retold of the eve of her family's demise. His words were heavy as stones on his tongue and his eyes reflected a calm solace. He was a jaded youkai these days and hinted to a time long before when he had a child's perspective, an unquenchable curiosity and a bright innocence.

_Once I tell you, pup. You will __**remember.**_

_Please… Tell…_

_You were the Reincarnation of the Shikon no Miko and we had waited over a millennia for your rebirth…._

…

In an instant her eyes swam with stars. A crisp, white moon bloomed high. The aria of loons filled her ears and the sweet musk of damp, summer grass filled her nostrils. She was swinging her legs over the lip of a dock and the koi swam with candlelight scintillating over their ochre scales. Petals from late plum blossoms drifted down from a knobby sapling and created a lacy, pink veil to pepper the waters and the miko's jet black hair.

Kagome glanced behind her. The shrine stretched wide for miles with ancient mossy stone and impressive torii that stood as crimson sentinels. The archway gave way to a mountainous flight of stone steps that heralded the shrine's entrance.

Kagome blinked, without her control, she wasn't just _remembering…_

She was _reliving _her past.

It took the toddler a handful of minutes to realize that her mother was watching her with a quiet study and serenity.

"Haha-ue!" Kagome chirped and watched as her ethereal mother floated over the damp grass to dock's edge.

"Kagome," Midoriko smiled and her long hair undulated with inky currents down her silk haori. "Why are you up so late?"

Kagome shrugged and felt her own silk garments slide over her skin as easily as water. "Sesshoumaru-sama said he would be back before the new moon."

Midoriko glanced up to the swollen lunar orb above and her ashen countenance drank in the pale moonlight. Her skin became silvery, almost translucent.

It reminded Kagome of Sesshoumaru; of his moonlit flesh and ghostly silver hair.

"There is still time. It is still full," Midoriko quipped with a coy smile. "I checked."

Kagome sulked and her eyes dashed down to the rippling currents of koi swimming through the moon's reflection. "I want him back, Haha-ue."

"You know Lord Sesshoumaru has other duties, Kagome," Midoriko reminded gently. "Keeping you as a ward requires much more than just constant vigilance over you personally. It requires him to go out and seek dangers before they fester and target our shrine."

Kagome's eyes widened as she took in the mountains that surrounded their shrine. The Higure Shrine was by no means_ undersized _but in the shadow of the stark mountain ranges that ringed the shrine's barrier, it seemed to be dwarfed.

Kagome remembered the tales InuYasha bespoke of. He told her of her fearsome ogres that lurked in the caves, twisted and vicious birds that watched your every step from the trees and leviathan dragons that soared the skies ready to gulp up little girls.

"Kagome, Kagome, oh why do you look so sad?" Midoriko hummed and kneeled alongside her pensive daughter. Her youngest and most innocent daughter, the one who stayed up on long nights under the moon and carried the weight of the world on her tiny little shoulders.

Kagome swayed on the dock's lip, feeling a sudden rush of exhaustion press down on her tiny body.

Midoriko's bone white hands shot out and latched onto her daughter's shoulders. "Don't fall in again, Kagome… you can only fall so many times before you truly drown."

Kagome stilled within her mother's grasp. "What does it mean?"

Midoriko smiled and Kagome took in her mother's face. She was a classic beauty with unblemished skin and knowing eyes. Crow's feet crinkled at her eyelids from the few, precious smiles her long life had gifted her and her rouged lips resembled the bud of a rose. "It means many things, Kagome. Being the _heir _is something of a curse and blessing," she whispered. "Kikyo may be your sister, but your path is as different from hers as it is any other's. For all her promise and skill, the Kami still overlooked her and chose you instead to bear the weight of true purity."

Kagome shrunk. "Is that why Kikyo-nee hates me? She wants the Kami to like her?"

Midiroko lips twitched into a small, secretive smile and a melodic chuckle rang across the air like a bell. "Hm, oh Kagome, Kikyo does not hate you. She is simply unwilling to accept the path the Kami have chosen for her. You are the heir. You inherited something so precious and immeasurable no one will ever truly understand it."

"Not even you, Haha-ue?" Kagome pined.

Midoriko pulled the small child into her lap and swaddled her quivering form with her silk sleeves. And the two mikos looked up to the purple velvet canopy splattered with diamond-dust. "Oh I believe there is something even more precious than the Shikon no Tama."

Kagome felt her mother's fingers drum on her chest, just above her fluttering heart. "What?" Kagome asked anxiously at this new shred of knowledge. What could possibly be worth more than the Sacred Jewel? Her teachers and scholars had always drilled into her since birth that the Shikon no Tama was the utmost powerful artifact to ever exist.

But to Kagome, it was simply her secret weapon of winning at marbles against Shippou.

That is, when Midoriko permitted her to have it. But usually the dull, lifeless orb dangled from her mother's neck or remained locked away on an alter in the deepest confines of the shrine, guarded by the Band of Seven.

Nobody knew why the Jewel of Four Souls still remained dormant…

A howl ululated across the open night air and Kagome found herself getting to her feet anxiously. "Koga-kun is back!" Kagome cheered and Midoriko got to her feet slowly.

"So it would seem," Midoriko mused as her daughter whooped at the approaching wolves' baying. "They are early from their patrol."

Kagome did not care for her mother's suspicions and was already galloping down the dock to the shrine's gates.

The night air rushed past her and in a sudden gust of wind, Kagura materialized in the young miko's path and with a chiding on her tongue. "The wolves have still not reached the barrier, Hime. You cannot greet them just yet."

Kagome's feet sank into the cobbled stone and she stared at her guardian. The Wind Witch was her substitute guardian when Sesshoumaru was away as well as her ever constant sparring partner and constant nark to the Dog demon. "But Kagura…" Kagome whined. "InuBaka is going to chase them off again if I don't see them."

Kagura's fan flicked open as the demoness languidly fanned her neck. "It does not matter. You cannot leave the barrier. It is too dangerous."

Kagome's face flushed. "But Kikyo-nee _leaves all the time!"_

"Kikyo-sama is not the heir, Hime," Kagura reminded and closed her fan with a crisp snap to punctuate the statement. "While Sesshoumaru-sama is gone, you cannot leave the barrier."

Kagome _groaned._ _"Ugh!"_

"Kagome," her mother's voice chastised as Midoriko sidled alongside her daughter. "You will listen to Kagura-danna and address everyone appropriately." Kagome was developling quite the superiority complex.

But considering her daughter's company, she shouldn't be too surprised.

Kagome plopped on her butt with her arms crossed as her mother shot Kagura an apologetic look. "But I wanna see Koga-kun _**now**_."

Kagura's sharp scarlet eyes drank in the heir's tantrum and the mother-miko's imploringly expression. "InuYasha is preoccupied at the moment, if that satisfies you, Hime-sama."

Kagome's ears perked up at that statement. "So Koga-kun, Hakuku-kun and Ginta-kun won't be turned away by InuBaka?"

"Hai, Hime-sama."

Midoriko's face twisted in annoyance at her daughter's casual yet disrespectful honorifics. "What do you mean, preoccupied?"

Kagura's eyes darted to the cobbled stone and her willowy frame locked like steel beneath the silk of her yukata. "He is with Kikyo-sama," she murmured.

Kagome's face mashed with confusion, looked up to her mother's tight expression. "Huh?"

"At _this_ _hour_?" Midoriko clipped.

Kagura nodded before dismissing herself without a word and into a whirlwind of feathers.

Kagome barely caught the glimpse of Kagura's form drifting along the dark horizon before her mother was stamping up the shrine's steps.

Kagome looked around, Kagura was always a bit skittish and aloof with her and short with her mother but she kept her general distaste for humans reserved for the monks and taijiya usually. But Sesshoumaru trusted her and that was more than enough for most standards.

Kagome felt a trickle of excitement, no doubt Kagura had fled to the mountains to await Sesshoumaru's return and would keep her guard from afar whilst her mother was going to chastise Kikyo no doubt for _kissing_ again.

Kagome wrinkled her nose. She remembered stumbling upon InuYasha and her sister in the archery range with lips just a hair's width away. She also remembered Kikyo's white hot fury at her interruption and her threats for silence. InuYasha had looked completely flustered at the whole prospect and had swooped Kagome up in a torrent of guilt and embarrassment so that they both might flee Kikyo's hysterics.

That had been a glorious afternoon as they both slid outside the barrier and InuYasha had taken her to the coast to collect seashells. She tasted freedom with the salty air and the sand between her toes. It wasn't until dusk that Sesshoumaru had blasted a crater into the beach, with red eyes as bloody as the sunset and claws dripping with acid towards InuYasha's throat; that Kagome realized how very ruthless her guardian could be.

She had started to cry and Sesshoumaru melted back into that serene façade of a Western Lord to placate her. They returned to the frantic chaos of the shrine with InuYasha hemorrhaging and Kagome inflicted with a terrible case of the hiccups. Both of them received severe reprimanding from Kikyo and Midoriko respectively. Sesshoumaru to this day solely blamed InuYasha for causing such uproar over the heir's sudden disappearance and Koga never let the hanyou forget either. His wolves had scoured the countryside relentlessly and had been driven to near death with exhaustion.

No matter the culprit ever since that day, Kagome had dreamed of being free once more.

She wanted to go beyond the great barrier, over those soaring mountains and traipse the coastlines and forests. She wanted to put her powers to test and be the one to take care of herself. She wanted to sleep under stars and run with the wolves. She wanted to fly with dragons and hunt evil demons.

Kagome just wanted to _live_.

She did not want to wake every morning at dawn and meditate until noon. She did not want to fast for days on end until her body was brittle. She did not want to be drilled endlessly by yokai whose senses far outranked her own. She did not want to study dull, endless texts that smelled of dust and mold. She did not want to spend her days in lecture or want her hobbies to be as lackluster as calligraphy or flower arranging. She did want her clothes to be as precious as gold and as delicate as paper. She did not want to be surrounded by old souls that did not understand her child's mind.

She wanted to be normal.

"Brooding again?" A calm voice trickled to her ears and Kagome whirled to see a teenage boy cloaked in an emerald haori and hakamas with matching eyes that were just as bright if not sharp.

"Shippou!" Kagome exclaimed and tackled his knees. He was solid as stone, as were all demons but the viridian silk was soft on her cheeks and he resonated with a deep warmth that was his Fox Fire.

"Hello, pup," he grinned and tilted his head down at the girl. "Up so late and unattended…" he observed with the scattered stars his halo. His coppery red hair was bound in a loose ribbon but was unruly on his crown. "What has happened?"

"Kikyo is in trouble," Kagome chimed in a smug, sing-song lilt. "And Koga-kun is back early."

"Aa," the kitsune acquiesced as his head jerked up to the wind. He took in the scent. "I can smell them from here. Where is the jewel?" he asked so suddenly it was a near demand.

Kagome near shrank at his harshness. Mother once told her that Shippou used to be a carefree runt who would frolic in fields and play the flute around a fire. Now he was a bitter trickster whose long life had not been kind to him.

'_Shippou knows what it was like to lose you once, Kagome,'_ Midoriko had told her some time ago. _'A millennia ago, you died and the Jewel went dormant.'_

Despite Shippou's appearance he was the oldest of the youkai. Then again, a Bijuu's life was considerably longer than that of a normal youkai.

'He is what we call a taiyoukai, Kagome,' Midoriko had said one evening when Shippou had been spied gazing up at the sky as if he were lost. 'An immortal amongst immortals. There are few others like him.'

Kagome never asked where and what happened to the others. She only knew that Shippou had a truly wicked side to him and only ever spared her of it truly. Then again, she was the only one who had to bear his tortured stares. His eyes never looked like he was about to cry.

No, Kagome always thought he looked like he was about to scream.

"The jewel is with Haha-ue," Kagome finally answered and watched as a sudden surge of panic dimmed in Shippou's eyes. "Why?" Shippou always regarded the jewel oddly compared to most demons. Some treated it with disdain, like Sesshoumaru and others always had a lusting eye for it, like InuYasha or Koga.

Shippou seemed to fear it.

"I was simply wondering," he supplied with a sharp smile and dimples pecking at his honeyed skin. "Few would believe how much chaos and despair such a little thing could cause," he said as he stroked her plump cheeks with his claws.

No, fear was such a paled term. Shippou was terrified of the jewel; or rather he was terrified of its possibilities.

"Yo," a deep drawl broke the night air and the fox's claws retracted from the girl.

Kagome broke out of Shippou's grasp and whirled around to see Koga flanked by a dozen panting wolves with Hakkaku and Ginta straining behind to catch up. The foothills rolled behind them and to Kagome they looked like an endless dark sea.

The wolf prince was somewhat of a fixation of Kagome's as he stood with his crooked smile and a generous amount of brown, muscled skin draped in animal pelts. The young heir was accustomed to more cultured and elegant youkai; ones who kept their fangs hidden, whose skin was near translucent and adorned silk over fur. Yet the wolf demon tribe was far more feral. They howled at the moon, ate raw meat, bared their fangs regularly and growled more than they spoke.

"Koga-kun!" Kagome waved and giggled as the Wolf Prince materialized before her in a dizzying display of speed. "Where have you been?"

"Far, far away," Koga crooned as he knelt alongside the girl, plucking at the silk haori with his claws. "But I came running back as fast as I could."

Shippou's face had already twisted into dark expression as he watched the wolf pack encircle the heir. Typically InuYasha chased them off with enough crude language to make one's ears bleed but the half-breed was occupied and Kagome had been getting much too restless lately…

"Your pack returns early," Shippou intoned as Kagome was licked by a wolf cub.

Koga's smile dipped down to a steeled frown at the fox's sudden comment. "Hardly any lesser youkai to deal with anymore. Being out there was pointless."

"And boring," Ginta added as he picked a cub by the scruff of its neck away from Kagome. The ookami snuffed the air. "Where's are the dogs?"

"Gone," Shippou answered but Koga already knew that.

"I smell the half-breed," Koga commented. "And the little hypocrite."

"Hippo-_wah_?" Kagome mimicked as she took a baying cub into her lap. The little brown bundle of fur snuggled against her tummy and muddied her hakamas.

"You should not refer to Kikyo-sama as such," Shippou reprimanded and took a disgruntled backstep from a rather scrawny wolf who was pawing at his knees.

Koga shrugged. "I've called her worse for bedding the half—" A blue tongue of flames ignited by his shoulder and started to creep along his neck. "Oi!"

With a snap of his fingers, the Fox Fire extinguished. "Please keep mindful of your audience." Shippou's eyes dipped down to the giggling child being slobbered upon by wolf cubs.

Koga rolled his eyes and stood in a fluid motion, his long ebony nape coiling sinuously with his movements. "Fine. For her sake," he grunted and let out a low growl for his wolves to back away from the little miko. "So pup, how are your…" Koga's words fell short at Kagome doe-eyed expression. Her large anomalous eyes were a scorched sapphire shattered by starlight. It was a violent, intoxicating thing to take in, especially for being a demon.

"Studies," Shippou implemented with his claws droning irritably on his forearm and found an old twisted oak to lean his back against. "She has been studying old history and of the human clans across the sea."

Koga's nose was already wrinkling as he had caught whiff of some putrid carcass. "Why?"

"It is important she knows from where she came. The Sage of Six Paths is her ancestor," Shippou said tersely. "I would know. I was there."

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?" Koga sneered. "So are you the one who teaches her, fox?"

"Hm, no," Shippou shook his head and his eyes glowed a tumultuous green. "Midoriko-sama and I both agree that it would stir too much unpleasant memories to retell the past."

A bell-like voice rung between the two youkai and Midoriko was a moonlit phantom across the shrine's steps. A powerful waft of vanilla and amber caught their senses. "Always squabbling, you youkai," Midoriko chuckled and swooped her daughter up from the baying wolves with a silent movement. "You tend to overlook the most important of details." She looked at her daughter, who balanced on her hip like a little clone. "And how are your studies, Kagome?"

The girl's cherub lips parted. "Uh… boring," she confessed and ducked her head in shame.

Midoriko's mirth was never-ending. "Aa, and what of your training? Kagura-danna seems to gloat about your aim enough for even Sesshoumaru's notice."

Kagome's head remained planted into her mother's bosom in embarrassment. Both demons could not help but let their lips twitch into reluctant grins.

"You see, that is how we lose what is most precious to us," Midoriko said cryptically. "By becoming consumed by everything that is meaningless."

Shippou bowed with a murmured apology and Koga bared his neck in a silent regret.

"Now, tell me of your travels, Koga," Midoriko beckoned and let the wolf pack flank her into the shrine's walls.

"Uneventful," Koga summarized as he jogged over to the miko-mother in a few long strides. Shippou kept to the back of the crowd, watchful of the Wolf Prince and hissing away any nagging wolves. "We found a knot of ogres up in the northern ridge but other besides that, there are no more than the occasional yokai… all of low breed."

"It seems the Taijiya are doing their job," Midoriko commented as her daughter listened to the steady beat of her heart.

"A bit too good of a job," Shippou commented.

Midoriko stopped suddenly, her sandals making the dirt scratch and crunch. "What do you mean, Shippou?" Her gaze was dark, a near black cobalt that reminded him of the night sky just before dawn.

The kitsune paused as well, his oval boyish face hardening with old eyes. "It is more of a genocide, the demon slayers are enacting. They are turning my kind extinct."

"Our kind is composed of mindless beasts who would have her head on a spit," Koga growled as he jabbed a thumb to Kagome's crumpled little form.

Hakkaku whimpered from behind and Ginta and the rest of the pack followed suit at the prospect of Kagome's demise.

"Aside from ethics," Shippou began and felt his hands flex instinctually. "There is still the general defense issue. Our islands are safe from the mainland and near impenetrable _because_ we have _mindless beasts_ patrolling our countryside. The more of them we kill, the more likely we will be infiltrated."

Koga let out a whooping laugh. "The humans? You truly think any of those pathetic creatures could stand against us? Let alone make the journey across the ocean without starving to death."

"They did once," Shippou reminded. "_I was there. _I watched as my kind was driven to the very corners of the earth by those _pathetic creatures_. The humans you have encountered Koga are by no means comparable. The ones from the mainland are stronger than those villagers you killed."

Kagome's head popped up. "You killed villagers, Koga-kun?"

Koga's face wilted at Kagome's innocent gaze. "It was a long time ago, pup."

Midoriko patted Kagome's head back down. "I think we've had enough horribleness for one conversation. I will speak to the Taijiya, Shippou and your pack, Koga, may go on a much needed break."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Shippou murmured a deep thanks and took up pace once more.

"Besides youkai were much weaker back then…"

"That's enough, Koga," Midoriko mandated as they reached the shrine's entrance. The old mossy stone steps were peppered with late plum blossoms and cracked from eons of usage. "I plan on visiting the Taijiya village tomorrow. Will you accompany me, Shippou?"

"Of course," Shippou answered and folded his claws into the emerald embroidery of his haori.

Kagome stirred once more despite the lack of sleep wearing on her little body. "Can I go?" she chirped.

Everyone in the group stilled to hear such a hope-laden query.

"Oh, pup," Koga's rough voice softened to a rasping whisper. "You know you can't—"

"But you said there were no bad demons," Kagome pointed out. "You said it was boring."

"Well that was Ginta," Hakkaku piped earning a swift jab from said partner.

Koga averted his grey, lupine eyes to his pack clustering at his feet. Always for some strange reason, the girl compelled him…

"No," Shippou said and his bitterness leaked through his fangs. "You will never leave this barrier, pup."

Cricket-song and the rush of nightly winds could not mute the utter horror Kagome's little voice wept. "Never?" she echoed and her eyes, full of stars and wonder dimmed.

"Oh Shippou," Midoriko shook her head.

"What?" he seethed as his skin prickled with a sudden rush of heat. "Why delude her with fantasies that will never be realized? She will remain here." _Safe, safe, safe…_ his mind droned on unwillingly.

He watched her die once when he was a child, _helpless,_ now he had power and he would not let it happen again.

Kagome felt the whisper of Kikyo's voice, 'You are their prisoner.' "I knew it!" Kagome hissed and pushed away from her mother. "Kikyo was right. This shrine is a cage!"

Koga's expression fell to utter despair as he watched the miko's angry eyes burn at them. "Pup…listen, please," he implored and he reached out to her.

But Kagome's fingertips glowed with raw, unadulterated energy and surged at them with fury.

"_**NO!" **_

The world bled white with that echoing defiance and the rift between them had begun.

…

_And then what happened?_

_You fled into your chambers, wailing and ashamed at what you had done. Koga's wounds were not severe but Midoriko could only heal so much before his pride let the scars settle in permanently. _

_And you?_

_I went to you. It took days but eventually I did. I found you cradled by Kagura who tried to coax you out of your rooms with trinkets and such. But it did not matter, you hated everyone upon your new revelation and Sesshoumaru's prolonged absence did not help matters. _

_It seems… so exaggerated. I can't picture myself… just exploding like that. _

_We put too much pressure on you. We thought that if you were monitored heavily and brought up disciplined you would be safe. But we forgot your youth. You were so young. A toddler's body brimming with decades of knowledge and a voracious appetite for more… You __were__ like a prisoner. _

_So you indulged me. You let me go outside of the barrier?_

_Yes, Koga was so utterly torn that his pack became scattered and unruly. InuYasha and your sister had had some terrible argument after Midoriko's intervening and had since stopped talking. This left your sister missing for days on end and the hanyou irrational with emotion. Chaos was settling in the shrine and we saw that it was no place for you any longer. You had studied and trained to the extent your body could endure and so Midoriko prepared a journey. _

_To where?_

_The mountains, the coast, the Taijiya village, I do not remember. I was so angered by this prospect I fled the shrine's walls and cursed your blessed mother as I left. I swore I would never return and hoped they would all feel the same despair I did watching you die a millennia ago. _

_You… just left?_

_I did. I had become increasingly irrational and I believe this was the time my mind had started to deteriorate. Hm… _

_What's so funny? _

_Ah, I just remember the night before I departed, you asked me if I was sick and I swore you could sense something I could not. Maybe even then, my Mind was growing weak…_

_Apparently I did… But you came back. _

_Yes, the moment I sensed your aura disappear from this world and into the meidou I raced back. It was only then did I see Sesshoumaru, returning after sensing exactly what I had. He was far too late as well and Madara had already struck. You were gone and that was the second time I had relive the agony of grief in my long, long life. It crippled me for a near half a century, once more until I learned of sister's ability to free you. After that, I became hysterical but no means of persuasion could invoke Kikyo to action. InuYasha's death was still so fresh… And she blamed you with all of her heart. _

_So it was then, it was when Koga and my mother took me outside the shrine's barrier that Madara attacked. _

_Yes, but how one man vanquished an army is another story…_

…

A full moon cycle had turned and Sesshoumaru had yet to return. Kagome had stopped questioning her mother and had stopped pining late into the night for him. Kikyo had whispered that he may never return and that sometimes demons reverted back to wild beasts to disappear into the wilderness forever.

As Kagome rode on Koga's back, she tried to repress the wickedness her sister tried to plant into her heart. Instead she let the night air rush over her skin and her nostrils fill with the musk of the deep forest. Her crude sight could not take in the beauty rushing about her, save for the blurred starlit canopy and the shafts of moonlight piercing the darkness swelling with each stride Koga took.

The forest was alive. Kagome was alive.

The cacophony of sounds was mind-buzzing. The soft pitter-patter of countless creatures both wolf and alike, ran alongside her while little shadows darted out of their path and birds scattered into explosions of movement.

They were a horde – an undulating mass that raced over the earth in sinuous motion.

So very many precautions had been made, Kagome had lost count. Koga had rallied every wolf tribe he held sovereignty over to escort the little miko across the countryside. The mass of demonic auras made Kagome's head spin. The giant influx of energy and freedom made her blood rush as well.

Her mother flanked the pack alongside the Band of Seven, a gang that had given up their lives of thievery for repentance in service to the shrine. They were the miko-mother's personal guard, marching alongside her. Kagura took to the night skies, coasting the winds on her pale plume and keeping watch for miles around.

InuYasha was alone and at the front. Kagome had not spoken to him in days but he always seemed to accept her company more readily than most. Kagome had frequently sidled beside him on the docks and watched the clouds drift or the sun set.

Then suddenly, the horde stopped. The wolves panted and snuffed the air. InuYasha gripped the hilt of his sword and The Band of Seven stiffened in defensive poses around the miko-mother. Stillness and silence filled the night air.

Kagome stiffened on Koga's back. "What is it?"

Koga sniffed the air incessantly. "Fire and blood."

"What…" Kagome's words fell short.

"The Taijiya village is just ahead," Koga explained.

It was at this precise moment that InuYasha decided to speak for the first time in days. "Alright! NOBODY fucking move. Koga give Kagome to Midoriko and lets scout ahead to see what the hell is going on."

Koga's grip on Kagome only tightened as he brought her around to cradle her small body against his chest.

Bankotsu shouldered his massive halberd and spoke. "No, we should turn back before we get wrapped up into things."

"It was probably just another ogre raid," Jakotsu complained, sighing with boredom and plopping on the forest floor to examine his nails. "And their blood makes my Snake Blade stink." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Let's go back."

InuYasha growled and was about yell—

When felt a chill of ice rush down her spine. "Look! Look!" she screamed. Why had _no one_ noticed?

Everyone's gaze followed the child's frantic urgings.

A masked specter stood in their path, _watching_.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Continue with this or should I just give up?~KK


	33. Old Blood

**Author's Note:** This is a flashback within a flashback within a flashback. No really. I'm that crazy. Enjoy! ~KK

* * *

**~Chapter Thirty Two~**

_Old Blood_

* * *

There's no time for hesitating

Pain is ready, pain is waiting  
Primed to do it's educating

Unwanted, uninvited kin  
It creeps beneath your crawling skin  
It lives without it lives within you

Feel the fever coming  
You're shaking and twitching  
You can scratch all over  
But that won't stop you itching

Can you feel a little love

—_Dream On_

…

The miko-child's screams were bloodcurdling. Koga's claws gripped her contorted frame. The wolf found her muscles taut with stress and her eyes wide with horror and stars.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Koga was shaking her but she would not stop screaming.

The rest of the horde was silent, their stillness ethereal as they watched the specter stare at them.

The wolves had already begun to launch themselves at the dark shadow of a man. The rattle of fangs and the whistling snarls were all that was heard before the pack burst into flames.

The wolf prince dropped the precious miko-child onto the earth when he watched the rancid black flames that smelled like oil and blood spread from wolf to wolf consuming every one of his pack mates. The Ookami howled in agony.

"Fucking WOLF!" InuYasha screeched as he tackled Koga out of the way of the licking tongues of fire. He scooped Kagome into his Firerat haori in the same instant. "Get your act together and save your fucking pack!"

Koga's eyes darted as his pack was burning alive. The strange shadows the flames cast provided poor light and confused his eyes. But Koga could still make out the faint outline of the monster that had dozens of his brethren howling in agony.

And then, within the next breath, he was gone and with a chuckle on the smoky air.

"INUYASHA!" Midoriko was roaring as she let another purifying arrow sing through a wall of black flame, dissipating it. "Take Kagome and RUN!"

He already was and Koga watched as the halfbreed darted off into the dark forest. Kagome's screams faded off into the dark.

"Koga!" Midoriko screamed. "Help me!"

Koga watched as a she-wolf's fur sizzle down to nothing but muscle and bone. Her meaty charred skeleton collapsed against an oak.

If only he'd been faster…

"KOGA!"

Koga sobered and leapt over the protective ring the Band of Seven had formed around the miko-mother. The flames encircled them.

"Oi! Ookami take her and go!" Bankotsu barked as large blasts of heat surged from Banryu's blade. A hissing racked the air before negating the flames to dissipate partially. "GO!"

Koga grabbed Midoriko and whisked her away into a whirlwind, leaving the rest of the Band and his dying pack to the flames.

Smoke, horrid tar-like smoke clogged his lungs, ruined his senses and stung Koga's eyes. He felt hot tears stream from his eyes uncontrollably. A wave of energy surged from Midoriko's palms as he ran and as it purified the air, Koga felt his entire body sting.

"Gomen ne, Koga-kun, but I must purify the air unless the flame follows us," she said breathily against the Ookami's breastplate. "That monster knows the jewel I carry is a decoy…"

Koga's jaw locked in tension. Not even he, one of Midoriko's most trusted, knew such a thing. "Then where is the real jewel?" he growled as he jogged across a stream and into a gully.

It was then, that Koga had to pause because his armor reeked of blood. He looked down to the small yet ancient woman in his arms…

Midoriko was smiling despite her pristine white haori staunched with more blood than Koga had ever seen on a human. Her face was so very pale – no_ grey_.

And then her sing-song voice whispered, "Oh Koga-kun, don't you see? Kagome _is_ the jewel."

…

InuYasha's nose screamed for him to turn back. An ungodly stench permeated his senses with a tarry musk which was soon followed by the disgustingly sweet smell of burning flesh.

And death. Nothing quite like the smell of a massacre. You could almost taste it, the fear and the agony.

The smell bled out to the entire forest and InuYasha could feel critters scurrying away or lesser Yokai moving closer to scavenge.

But InuYasha's instincts knew better than to go anywhere near those unnatural flames. They held no demonic aura or ki or any type of energy he could identify.

"InuYasha?" Kagome peeped over the sounds of the far off ululations of wolves and the rapid footfalls of the half-demon that carried her.

"What?" he snapped at her and his vicious tone made her tiny little body jump. InuYasha caught her sniffles and the smell of salt waft his senses. His amber eyes darted down to her.

"What a sad sight," drawled an enigmatic voice. A shadow materialized on the hanyou's peripheral and before InuYasha stood the masked man with the eyelets alit.

A trivet of tomoe swirled in a pool of crimson.

The half-demon snarled and pulled the child to his chest. "UCHIHA!"

The enigma _tsked _with his tongue as he strode forward and as his cowl slipped to his shoulders, he stepped into the moonlight. "_Manners._ Your_ kind_ have always been lacking in them. The Half-Breeds are always the worst."

InuYasha set the toddler down onto the damp loam. Her legs quaked like a brittle leaf about to be blown away. "Kagome," his voice thundered from his chest, his eyes were locked on the strange human's confidant gait. "I need you to run." The words were a painful admission.

The toddler's face resembled a dewy tomato, red and wet. "Inu… no… I…"

InuYasha wordlessly unsheathed his sword and Kagome's eyes darted to his quivering clawed hands wrapped around the ancient hilt. InuYasha was scared…

InuYasha _never _got scared.

"I want Sesshoumaru…" she mumbled.

"Well, he's not fucking here right now!" InuYasha screeched and stepped in front of her. "Now go!" he barked. "RUN!"

And that was the last time he saw her and once those little thunderous footsteps faded off into the darkness, she was gone.

_We will meet in the next life_, InuYasha promised. "Just as we did in this one."

"Hm? Sorry. I did not catch that?" The figure mocked and stopped a scant meter or two away from the bristling hanyou.

There was nothing but the silvery light of the moon filling the space between them…

And then the light turned red and fell over the landscape like a curtain. InuYasha looked up to the sky only to see the moon swathed like a pearl in blood.

"What magic is this?" InuYasha said vacantly and felt a supreme aura fill the area. The man had finally decided to let his energies have reign. This figure was no mere human. "What are you…? A demon?" InuYasha shuddered to think what sort of atrocities a human would have to do to achieve such powers.

The cloaked man shrugged and his voice was placid. "Not quite. I am Madara and use not magic, Half-Breed but Jutsu. An art foreign to the inhabitants of these islands."

"You smell like a carcass." InuYasha wrinkled his nose. "And ashes."

Madara chuckled. "You yokai become so disgruntled at the presence of shinobi. So _threatened_ by the fact that humans have mastered energies that surpass your own power… " He outstretched a black gloved hand into a red shaft of moonlight. His long fingers uncurled and curled into a fist repeatedly. "You are savages. You take for granted the powers the Kami gifted you. But no longer! The gods see how you have _squandered _your gifts and have given us, _man_, a means to earn our strength. No shinobi is merely born like you, Half-Breed. **We are made**."

"Keh!" InuYasha spat on the ground. "Then what do you want with Kagome?" InuYasha demanded and took a defensive, rigid pose with every muscle taut with tension.

Madara tilted his head quizzically, like a raven peering down on a picked over corpse. "To simply take her _home_. To complete her training. She can learn no more from your kind or that pious Miko."

"And where is _home_?" echoed a third voice.

InuYasha saw his brother's eyes first looming on the tree-line. Then the Youkai stepped into the bloody limelight and his usual pristine visage seemed gored, like blood-spattered silk. InuYasha could sense Sesshoumaru's rage. He could see the jagged markings on his cheeks and his lips quirking up into a canine-like sneer.

Sesshoumaru made no attempt to hide his fangs. And yet, his voice was like crystal, cold and clear and his eyes were honed in with an intense gaze.

Completely unnerved, Madara took up a silent pacing and resembled an amused panther toying with its prey. "Why, across the sea and back to the land of men. Where the Five Great Shinobi Nations now stand."

These words were meaningless to InuYasha, he was young and despite Midoriko's kindness, she still kept some things privy to those within her immediate counsel. Sesshoumaru, a pureblood, had always had priority.

InuYasha watched as Sesshoumaru's steely demeanor softened and his eyes, brilliant as freshly beaten gold, pierced the eclipsed moonlight. "The clans are no longer…?" he murmured.

Madara chuckled. "Hm, no. We are no longer like squabbling children. We unified, organized and became even stronger in numbers. Our _wars _now…" The Uchiha said with pleasure. "—would obliterate your precious little islands. Even the Kami can no longer question us. But even that will soon change. Soon I will unify all of the villages under one true Ka—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" InuYasha screeched as he made a leap for Madara with Tessaiga poised.

The Uchiha languidly glanced up to the pouncing Hanyou as if InuYasha were merely moving in slow motion. Uchiha Madara sidestepped. InuYasha face planted into the dirt.

Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru pinched the bridge of his nose in extreme, nearly palpable annoyance. If the Uchiha did not flay his half-brother alive, then he would surely do so...

_After the battle_, Sesshoumaru placated his beast and somewhere deep within the recesses of the Youkai's mind, a massive hound with shaggy ivory fur tucked its muzzle under its paws. Hackles raised, its subtle growls resembled far off thunder…

"Uchiha…" Sesshoumaru's cool baritone became fractured and divided into two distinct yet simultaneous tones. His Beast and his Mind had very similar goals at this moment. _Uchiha blood._ "My father told me that name long ago…"

Madara's voice held a lilt, as if he were smirking devilishly from behind that mask. "And what did the old dog say? Only Kyuubi was alive back when your kind still _infested _our lands all those centuries ago."

Amber eyes darted over to their half-brother. InuYasha's movements were uncannily slow and uncoordinated, even for a Hanyou. The Half-Breed resembled nothing more than a crumpled piece of silk on Sesshoumaru's peripheral. "He said…"

_Sesshoumaru had been a pup once upon a time. He remembered when his father had finally taken him away from his mother's den deep in the west. His mother and him had resided in a secluded manor in the mountains, along the coast, where the sun was a deep gold and the jade ocean was calm. He remembered his mother had torn open his father's side before she eventually let her pup be taken under the wing of his sire. After all, it was custom._

_Sesshoumaru remembered their first night alone. They had been running along the shoreline, where the subtle laps of salt-water lulled their strides to a slower, more rhythmic pace and their forms to meld into a more humanoid version. _

"_You see that ocean, Sesshoumaru?" His father had stopped on the shore's white sand and was completely consumed by moonlight. He resembled some otherworldly creature. "You see how it seems to go on forever? Like the night sky or a seamless strip of silk? Across that ocean lies another world. We Youkai fled like rats from a sinking ship. The humans there are much unlike the ones you know. Even our kind was different then, we lived in caves and hid in the shadows like cowering beasts." The last acrid bit slipped out from clenched fangs. "The humans were truly sinister to our ancestors, my son."_

_A silver-haired gangly yet stoic youth looked up to his father. "How so, Chichi-ue?" _

"_We gave them a gift, my son. A very precious gift. Give a sip to a beast dying of thirst and he will drink your very blood. They wanted what we have. _**Power**_. Some of us gave it to them. Some lost it. Others it was stolen…" The Inu no Taisho shuddered and his billowing sleeves gleamed. "And then those mutant creatures bred," he snarled. "They multiplied like pests. Some of us who were left wanted to exterminate the vermin and the humans fought back. Those days were plagued with death. Infighting was commonplace and the anarchy seemed to mark an apocalypse…."_

_The Inu no Taisho continued and his son's sharp ears drank in every word. _

"_And then, a man and a demon came to an agreement. They wanted peace or some form of it, even if it were only temporary. Whether they decided this after a long duel or over plum wine is uncertain. All we do know is that this man was soon known to be the Sage of Six Paths and this Youkai was soon to be known as Naraku…"_

"_They swore an oath to each other and to the Kami that they would lend their knowledge to one another for the benefit of each race. For the humans, Naraku taught the Sage patience, discipline and foresight. And as for the Youkai, the Sage told Naraku of compassion, loyalty and honor. They took these gifts to their people. The clans assembled and territories were marked. Those times were filled with tension but the wars had simmered and some semblance of peace settled. The outnumbered Youkai spat at Naraku when he imparted the Sage's wisdom. For how was compassion or honor supposed to give them strength now that the humans seemed more united than ever?"_

"_Naraku went back to the Sage and told him of how the demons felt cheated and that a new gift must be presented. The Sage pondered this for a fortnight and when the spider returned for answers asking for what the Sage had to offer, the Sage simply said, 'Your mind.' The Sage then elaborated, 'Your kind lack the conscious power over their primal instincts. Despite your longer years and the virtues you learned from them such as patience and foresight, you still lack that basic control and that is what hinders you.' And then the Sage un-tucked a bundle from his robes and handed Naraku an infant. The Spider cradled a dark-haired child and was about to protest until the child opened its eyes. They were red as blood and held the markings of life, death and rebirth in each tomoe that circled on the iris."_

" '_My firstborn holds a unique Kekkei Genkai — one that I created from the mixing blood of our races. His Bloodline Limit has the ability to subdue your Beast.' Naraku nodded to the Sage's words and left with an infant in arms. And the Youkai would soon know him to be Uchiha, one who fans the flames."_

"_Years passed and the demons fell quiet. Little was heard and some even rumored that they had finally gone extinct. The Sage had a second born son and gave this child his true power: enlightenment. This child grew under the tutelage of his father until one day the Sage's firstborn returned and with blood on his hands."_

" '_I killed them,' said a gored teenage boy with unruly black hair before collapsing onto the Sage's doorstep. So the Sage sent out his second born while he cared for his disturbed first born. The second born traveled far and wide until he came up to a dying Naraku on the very fringes of our world."_

"_The Sage's second son knelt down to the Spider and heard him of horrible things — Of a boy-child controlling the Youkai as if they were his puppets, making mothers slit their pups' throats, life-mates kill one another and pack-mates consume themselves. Atrocities. This boy was a monster."_

"_Naraku died and the second son set out to undo his elder's wrongs. The beastly Youkai were rampant and slowly but surely the second son enlightened a select few of their Beast and of their Mind."_

"_Many of the enlightened Youkai were not ready for such a gift. Many ended themselves for reasons unknown and many died from the mere domestication." The Inu no Taisho snarled at the last word. "The few that survived fled when the firstborn son returned to health. He killed many of us as we ran to the ocean. Our line is long but our pack is small. Our ancestors fled and the Kami took pity on us. They showed us another land and—"_

"_Chichi-ue," Sesshoumaru chirped. "An Inu no Tashio never flees. He is either victorious or dead."_

_The Inu no Taisho smirked and patted his pup's head with a large clawed hand. "How sharp you are, pup. There is another honor pledge we live by, Sesshoumaru."_

"_And that is?" the Dog Prince pried in a flat tone. _

"_We are guardians and what we protect is more precious to us than our lives and even our honor."_

"_Then we fled because of something we had to protect…?"_

_The Great Dog General of the West smiled. "Hm, yes my son. That is why when you see the devil,__** run**__ for he will take what is most precious to you…"_

Madara's chuckle broke Sesshoumaru's reverie and the Dog Prince felt a supreme ache within his skull. He glanced up and the tomoe were whirling around frantically. "How easy it is to pick through a demon's mind. So unguarded and _wild!" _Madara's eyes gleamed. "Tell me Dog Prince… what is most precious to you?"

Sesshoumaru flicked his wrist and long strand of his youki whipped at Madara. The Uchiha continued to chortle as the acidic whip passed right through his person as if he were air.

Sesshoumaru recoiled his whip and outstretched his claws. In one graceful leap he performed a garrote with his whip. Anyone else would have had the Inu's claws pass through his throat like butter, the Uchiha however remained untouched.

Sesshoumaru smelled his burning flesh before he saw it. The Youkai hissed as black tarry flames crawled over his arm, evaporating the silk and melting the flesh down to the bone.

"Tsukiyomi's flame is eternal," Madara mocked as he took a casual step back into the tree line's shadow.

The acidic flames crept up the Youkai's shoulder leaving a trail of melted flesh, scorched sinew and clean streaks of bone.

"Sesshoumaru!" InuYasha screeched as he starting to bolt towards his half-brother and tackled him to the gored grass.

A flash of metal and the sound of bone snapping reached Sesshoumaru's senses. And then the searing agony ceased and was replaced by a cold sharp pain along his shoulder.

His eyes opened and found his fingers clenched into a crumpled, scorched fist with black, splitting knuckles and bits of bone gleaming a flat white. The black flames hissed and licked at the flesh viciously. Sesshoumaru then realized his appendage was just a scant meter away and most definitely not attached to his person.

A dark thick ribbon of blood danced over the grass. Madara's eyes seemed to glitter with the sight. Sesshoumaru's severed arm twitched in defiance. "A three legged dog and a half-breed, now face me? Truly? What a meager obstacle between myself and my prize."

Sesshoumaru stood with his tattered and bloodied sleeve of his haori flapping in the wind like a torn banner from a conquered land. "If your intentions were truly as justified as you claimed, you would not refer to _**my pup**_ as a prize." And that's when the Demon Prince's placid expression shattered. His lips became a fanged leer, his eyes bulged and reddened and his once smooth markings that represented his heritage split into jagged streaks.

"SESSHOUMARU!" InuYasha croaked in a horrible rasping bark. He was slumped onto an old oak, his stocky form hunched beneath the folds of bloody fire-rat silk. "If you turn, you'll reveal all of your Youki for him to control. You know Uchiha feed off of that! So stop being such a dumbass and fucking RUN!"

Sesshoumaru tensed. Kagome's scent was on the wind, flittering with salt and the scented oil she always used in her hair…

_She is far enough. Safe enough. Alive. Breathing. Crying. Screaming. Scared. _His beast's growls reverberated between his temples. Conflict between the Mind and the Beast could be any demon's undoing.

His father had been right. _A truly loyal dog_, his mind quipped with a self-deprecating chuckle. His devotion to his pup surpassed any mother's love or brotherly fondness. She was his ward and nothing, neither his life nor his honor, mattered more.

Sesshoumaru's beast howled a long, ragged ululation for his pup.

She. Must. Live.

"InuYasha, go after her. Leave the Uchiha to me," Sesshoumaru growled low in a baritone, his features still marred from the recent influx of Youki.

But something chilled the spicy summer night air when InuYasha's rasping voice tittered then cackled until his throat gurgled. The half-breed threw his skull upwards, his matted silver tresses spilled down his back and both the Uchiha specter and the Demon Prince gained a front seat to the atrocity.

InuYasha's fangs were covered in blood. That black, toxic and tainted blood was from rash sacrifice.

"Fool…" Sesshoumaru cursed and clenched his claws so deep, the flesh split. Why did his imbecile of a brother not use Tessaiga? Why did he always have to be so rash, so quick to fall on the sword, so…

Sesshoumaru's gallant, fool-hearted half-breed of a brother was smiling his last smile. His eyes, once mellow like a late autumn sunrise were now dead black pits as InuYasha said his last words. "No time to draw it from the sheath… So I just bit your arm—_Keh!— _just like some rapid dog. Guess you were right brother. I'm _**savage!"**_ The Hanyou broke into a ragged cackle.

And just like that, InuYasha's soul was gone and he was just a hollow empty shell.

Madara's single Sharingan gleamed with delight as brother charged against brother. "History always has a way of repeating itself, ne?" he murmured for no one's ears but his own.

There had been no hesitation.

Not with his pup alone and frightened and in peril. Before time or thought even registered, the Demon Prince had found his claws in his bastard brother's chest and protruding from his back. The smell of tainted blood and the acidic neurotoxins on his claws permeated the air. Sesshoumaru listened as the rhythmic thump of his brother's pulse as it heightened then slowed. He felt the firm clump of flesh in his ribs flutter for a few last moments. InuYasha's lungs filled with fluid, the rasping and gurgling overtook the savage snarls.

Some form of pity overtook Sesshoumaru when he retracted his gored hang from his brother's chest cavity. The Hanyou collapsed into a red mess with hole where his heart used to be. His mindless body twitched with spasms as his soulless black eyes stared up in agony and hatred.

Entrapped by some warped mercy Sesshoumaru picked up Tessaiga and despite the sword's protests, he decapitated the pitiless creature that had been his brother.

He dropped the sword he had coveted his entire life as if it were nothing.

Sesshoumaru felt a supreme emptiness that would echo throughout the rest of his long years.

Madara was gone. Midoriko's aura faded. Kagome's energies and scent flittered into nothingness as well – lost to whatever incantation Midoriko had conjured in her last moments to save his pup.

All within a matter of moments…

His world had disintegrated around him.

He must of stood there for hours, which passed by like minutes for a demon; for the moon had faded and the sky had lightened to a red dawn.

Slow, timid steps entered the vale.

Kikyo fell to her knees at the sight of her lover's mangled corpse shrouded by mist and Sesshoumaru's gored claws alit by the ochre dawn light.

"I had not believed that damnable wolf…" Kikyo whispered and the Demon Prince could hear the same echo of emptiness reverberating within himself in the miko now. "If Haha-ue knew such atrocities could happen due to my useless little sister… then—then we should have sealed her away sooner!"

Sesshoumaru felt the swell of rage wash over him as well. But not over Midoriko's decision to keep Kagome unsealed, but just at himself for not being able to prevent it.

He staggered away, feeling his Beast take over and whisper.

_You must get stronger. You need power. Only then, will our pup come back to us._

"Where are you going Dog?" Kikyo snapped, her bow already nocked and drawn. The creak of a taut bowstring reached his ears. "I am not done with you. I do not care to hear why you have InuYasha's blood on your hands – but I will have my recompense."

Before he knew his movements, Kikyo's brittle throat was within his grasp. Kikyo's bow was splintered along with her quiver casted aside with fletched arrows scattered across the dewy bloodied grass.

"Kill me," Kikyo taunted with a sick lilt. "And your little _pup _remains sealed in that oblivion of a meidou **forever**."

Sesshoumaru could smell her lies. "Speak against what is most precious to me once again and you will join my bastard brother and not have your head, miko." He dropped her and Kikyo crumpled to the ground.

"You must obey me now, dog," Kikyo choked. "My mother is dead. My sister is sealed away. Your lineage demands it!"

Sesshoumaru simply walked away. "I serve only the heir of the Kami's purity and the living incarnation of the Shikon no Tama." He unsheathed his birthright and unceremoniously dropped Tensaiga to the bloodied loam alongside InuYasha's body and Tessaiga. "My lineage…" his voice trailed off. "Is no longer. I have shamed my bloodline."

And with those last words, Sesshoumaru's form changed and melted into the mist.

_You must get stronger. You need power. Only then will our pup come back to us._

…

The vision shattered.

The mist fled, the smell of blood faded and the tragedy became a memory.

Kagome let out a strangled gasp with limbs sprawling. Her feverish flesh felt foreign and this measly body she was so accustomed to…

Was not her own.

The Trickster chuckled a dark, rich chortle as he watched the small child's hands probe and search her frame for some semblance of identity. "No longer feel your age, pup?" he teased.

Kagome paused in her movements and knitted her brow. "How did I just see that…?" The Kyuubi had been far off while she had already been sealed away when the tragic events had transpired. "How did I just witness InuYasha's death, Madara's treachery and Sesshoumaru's anguish? You were no more present than I was. These memories… are not yours."

The Trickster sighed wearily. "When Madara possessed my mind to destroy Konohagakure in an effort to unseal you from the Meidou, I saw his memories. In those fleeting hours, we shared our memories, our victories, our defeats, our joys and our anguish. Madara has a powerful eye to see into a being's mind as if it were an open book. He is able to flip through your thoughts as if they were a picture book…"

_But the looking glass has two sides…_

"But that comes at a price. To absorb so much out of each individual…" Kagome trailed off. "It must drive him mad."

Kyuubi snickered. "He is as mad as loon. Even when compared to myself, whose own mind is splitting into two personas. And what is worse pup is that he craves more and more… His hunger for knowledge and power is insatiable. He is a true monster."

Kagome blinked up at the demon that had plagued Naruto all his life…

"You know Madara better than anyone then. You're our greatest hope!" Kagome exclaimed upon the revelation.

Just a few scarce hours before, the Nine Tailed Fox had seemed all powerful and unknown; an enigma with only riddles for answers and evil for power.

But now…

"Shippou!" Kagome squealed with recognition and for the first time in her life, she felt a little bit at home. "I missed… you so much…"

The stiff, bitter demeanor of the fox faded. His sharp features softened, his emerald eyes calmed and his claws outstretched…

She plunged into his arms and the Tricktser gripped her fiercely. "It's alright, pup."

"I remember, I remember…" she whispered over and over with hot tears slipping past her cheeks.

And then the warmth of the demon faded, the dim light brightened and the musky scent of his cage was replaced by the clean scent of a hospital's disinfectant.

_I won't let you go…_

Kagome's blurred vision sharpened and there she was again, awakening from a stupor with an incapacitated Naruto in her lap, ANBU surrounding her and the Godaime peering down at the prodigy's crumpled form.

"Well…" Tsunade clicked her tongue in impatience. "Do you remember?"

Kagome felt chills wash over her as Shippou's warnings to keep her newfound powers and memories hidden.

_Madara is watching your every move… _

Kagome merely shook her head while bringing her Jinchuuriki closer to her. Naruto no longer held a demon but something very precious to her.

Shippou was part of her old life and she would do anything to protect her pack.

"No. I remember nothing."

Even if that meant betraying the humans.

…

Kagome toyed with a pink gossamer light dancing about her fingertips. She was kneeling within a shaft of moonlight streaming into one of the corridors of the manor Itachi had bought for them. He had meant it to be a sort of safe haven for her.

After all, the ancient district of Kikyo Castle was the epicenter of Konohagakure and was just as expensive as it was exclusive.

Now, it just felt like more of a cage.

Her eyes wandered to the wood-knots in the old dark floorboards of the ancient structure. The place was much more calm than her last residence. Yet she missed her gritty little flat on the outskirts of the market district. She missed the smell of baked breads in the morning, the hum of merchants and shopkeepers auctioning their wears and spicy air filled with exotic fruits and flowers that you could practically taste.

Beforehand, her power was something she had muster with all of her will to conjure even the smallest of amounts. In fact, even with all the willpower in the world, her power still eluded her and only surfaced in her most dire need.

Now, as she fiddled with the tiniest of tendril of power, she felt the tossing of something much greater and had to use her willpower to push it _back _rather than beckon it forth.

She knew she was being watched.

She knew Madara's spies and all other sorts of evils knew of and had been tracking her progress. So to halt all development of her powers or to regress entirely would spark their suspicion that she was indeed aware of their surveillance.

Goosebumps pimpled her flesh every time she thought of Madara's gaze.

So there she sat, placidly toying with her miko ki seemingly alone but in reality…

She felt a thousand eyes at her back.

She waited hours in the manor for Itachi and as the moon turned in the sky, her thoughts drifted to the day's events.

Naruto had been detained for further analysis of the seal's stability at the hospital after the memory retrieval had been deemed a failure. Jiraiya and Sakura were with him at the very least but Kagome was not able to stomach their poking and prodding of his limp, unconscious body. She was able to sense Shippou's aura bristling at the human's interference and it pained her.

Sasuke had been unseen but she knew his aura was on the outskirts of her senses. He was avoiding many of them, especially his brother after his stint with accelerating his betrothal to Kagome. It was an obvious maneuver to gain more control over her and have the upper hand over Naruto and Itachi. Just as well, to put distance between Itachi and her. Yui, Itachi's betrothed since they were infants, would push for official engagement and marriage very, very soon.

"What Sasuke did was selfish," Kagome spoke aloud to the moonlit air.

She knew all along Itachi had been watching her as well.

The ANBU Captain revealed himself.

Kagome's once stormy blue eyes now more brilliant than a starlit ocean stared him down.

He was not in his usual uniform or armor, he carried no weapons save for an old rusted sword at his side and his hair was unbound. Instead, he resembled a nobleman. His vermillion haori was heavily embellished in black embroidery along the hem. A flock of crows fluttered from his sleeves to his shoulder and his circled around the Uchiwa fan, his clan's crest.

Kagome shivered. How much of stranger he was now and how much of confidant, the Kyuubi had become.

_Oh, how things have changed_, she thought morosely.

Itachi stepped towards her silently and sidled alongside her crumpled form. He immediately disrobed his haori and placed it around Kagome's shoulders. He knelt beside her in nothing but hakamas and his bare chest moonlit and scarred.

The little girl shuddered into the violently red robes and inhaled. Her sense of smell, along with so many other things, had improved as well.

_Has he always smelled so much of blood?_ She thought idly.

"Sasuke may be foolish…" Itachi spoke softly, his dark eyes distant on the skyline of the village and the looming shadow of the past Hokages' stone-face. "But his intentions are pure. You will be betrothed to my brother from this day forth, Kagome…" There was defeat in his voice, in his posture and in his obsidian gaze. He could feel this little creature that toppled into his life, slipping away just as suddenly. "There was nothing I could do."

Kagome sighed. "I do not care, Itachi. Being betrothed to Sasuke is the least of my concerns."

"I know…" Itachi said in a deflated baritone.

Kagome felt a stillness settle between them and chill rub between her shoulder blades. "You…" she trailed off as a sudden, terrifying revelation. "You knew they would try and extract my memories from me… You knew… and yet you did nothing?" Her breath hitched and she whirled to face him.

The Uchiha heir's eyes were red with his Kekkei Genkai. "Yes."

"Why?" Kagome whispered sharply. "Why didn't you stop them?"

And that's when she felt the tip of his _blade_ on her throat, saw the tomoe of his eyes spin and his voice echo through her ears. "It is regrettable that recent events have forced my hand to hasten my plans… Higurashi Kagome… I need you to tell me what you remember of the Dog General's son."

"Sesshoumaru?" And that's when Kagome's epiphany came to life in tempest's roar. "You knew… You knew _everything_…"

Uchiha Itachi _**knew**_ of Shippou, of Sesshoumaru, of Madara's atrocities, of her mother's death and of her sealing…

"Hm, yes," he breathed against her cheek with the blade pressed against her neck. "I knew exactly who you were from the beginning_, Shikon no Miko_. And I've been watching you for a very long time." Those mellifluous words spoke her undoing.

There he was, the man she was so utterly drawn to…

She was a moth to the flame and now it was her time to burn.

_What a glorious and despairing sensation!_

It was just as she felt his blade split skin and her heart break from the betrayal, Kagome came to yet another revelation.

And those ineffable words sputtered forth, even if this was to be her last breath.

"Itachi, _I love you!"_

…

Sasuke was perched upon the memorial stone of the third training ground like a carrion bird surveying the land for a corpse. The wind was dead-still, the grass dewed with moonlit pearls and the air was chilled with the oncoming winter.

His chakra signature was suppressed but he still lingered on the outskirts of his village. As Konohagakure twinkled on the horizon, he knew the higher-ups like Itachi, Kagome, Kakashi and Shisui would be to pinpoint his location within a matter of seconds if he so much as stepped onto the city's outer walls.

Uchiha Sasuke needed alone time, simply put. And he most definitely would not be able to brood in peace with everyone and their mother breathing down his neck.

However, there was one problem with extricating yourself from those who protect you…

A shift in the cloud cover and the gully became immersed in shadow.

Those who wish you harm can find you all the more readily.

Sasuke stiffened. His gut twisted and his muscles drew taut. His senses informed him something was indeed amiss—

"Who is out there?" Sasuke called out with his hand already on his chokuto's hilt and his Kekkei Genkai alit.

And then, as if he materialized out of moonlight, a figure stood amongst the hoarfrost. "Uchiha Sasuke," the ANBU spoke levelly.

"Kage…" Sasuke's tongue rolled over the name. Then again, Kage had no name. No, this man was as a part of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai as much as the swords on their backs and the masks they wore. Kage was the persona of ANBU in living flesh.

Fleeting memories came back to Sasuke of this man, this shadow, this _Kage_ and his relation to Kagome and his brother.

Kage had taken Kagome onto his own personal squad after her first assassination mission. With her mental state deteriorating unchecked at the time, she had gone AWOL and put Kage's team at risk in an futile effort to kill herself. The resentment Kage had for the little prodigy had never faded to say the least.

Ever since, Kage was the looming figure in a small village of Kawa no Kuni, staring down Kagome while threatening Sasuke's life. He was the unseen attacker in the alleyway, the orchestrator behind a defunct training exercise, and most of all…

Itachi's rival within the ranks of ANBU.

It was no secret the two Captains were gunning for the coveted position of First Captain Commander of the ANBU. The First Commander was the one person who could override the Jounin Commander's authority during wartime, have just as much sway over politics as the entire council combined and most of all, act on behalf of the Hokage should the leader of their village fail to do so.

It was the most coveted position. All security restrictions would be lifted, they oversaw all missions assignments and their commands within all ranks were deemed infallible.

Some ANBU whispered that their village had two Hokages. One for the public eye and the other in shadow. All wondered who truly held the

That was the seat of power his brother and Kage had coveted and sought after so desperately.

"Whatever disputes you have with my brother or Kagome, know that targeting me personally will resolve none of them and only bring not only their wrath but all those associated with me," Sasuke taunted. He was not afraid.

If Kage murdered Sasuke…

His shadowed throne in the ANBU would all be but handed to Itachi on a silver platter.

Kage's entire face was shadowed and slacking to a near ghostly expression.

Sasuke knew that face. He had seen it on Zabuza once Haku had died all those years ago…

Kage had the face of someone who had nothing to lose.

"Your brother, Uchiha Itachi butchered my sister. This is no mere conflict of political interests. I am sorry, Uchiha Sasuke but…" His eyes were steel. "This is vengeance."

"Fuck," Sasuke gritted out. Nothing was more dangerous or volatile than a shinobi about to go rogue. His hand darted away from his chokuto while his Sharingan was already evaluating the situation. He needed to _run_. He needed to turn back and gather aid. He needed to retreat back into the safety of the village walls and within the senses of those who could protect him.

But Uchiha Sasuke never ran.

"I am sorry, as well," Sasuke droned. "But I cannot allow you to have your revenge so easily."

He wouldn't be caught off guard. Without another moment's hesitation, Sasuke formed the Tiger hand seal with his fingers interlaced with his index aligned upward towards the sky. "Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu!"

_Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique_

The ANBU Captain was just an insouciant shadow in the wake of the firestorm that soared upwards into the starless night sky.

The shifting of thermals above elicited a gathering of clouds and a murmurous thundering.

Kage's dead eyes glanced up to the storm's flashes. "As impressive as your new ability to harness wild, natural lightning is Uchiha Sasuke," he trailed off and unsheathed his katana soundlessly. "It will not stop me."

And as the wind shifted—

Sasuke heard the sharpest of whispers right along his left ear.

"_You cannot outrun your own shadow." _

Sasuke felt the cool tip of a blade against the base of his skull, traipsing about his spinal cord.

And just as the lightning screeched, it pierced the column of Sasuke's throat with no hesitation.

Sasuke's scream turned to a gurgled howl as he saw the katana bloodied scarlet tip surface from the front of his neck.

Sasuke dropped to his knees, feeling lifeblood and consciousness leave him with every heartbeat.

Kage left the blade lodged in the young Uchiha's neck and as the first droplets began to fall, he kicked and spit on the dying second heir.

And as the shadow left, the storm raged—

"Where there is light, there is darkness."

Uchiha Sasuke died.

…

As your bony fingers close around me  
Long and spindly  
Death becomes me  
Heaven can you see what I see

Hey you pale and sickly child  
You're death and living reconciled  
Been walking home a crooked mile

—_Dream On_

* * *

**Author's Note:** To loyal readers, lurkers, reviewers, fans, critics and friends, I have to say that I have always appreciated your support for this story. I love to write. It is a deep hunger I can never satiate. However, when life throws hurdles at you and you have a seemingly endless road ahead, it is a daunting task to carry on. Especially when other works call to you but I truly believe in finishing what I started. Believe me, no one is more frustrated with me... than me. Any encouragement is cherished and please know I read every single one of your reviews. I truly enjoy writing this story and have been honored to have such wonderful fans. So I believe I owe it to you and myself to carry on. Essentially... I AM GONNA FINISH THIS FUCKING STORY EVEN IF IT KILLS ME! NOW WHO IS WITH ME? ~KarasuKimi


End file.
